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ENTRANCE  TO  THE  DUOMO  OF  FLORENCE. 


THE 


EARLY  HISTORY 

AND 

Antiquities  of  Freemasonry, 

AS  CONNECTED  WITH  ANCIENT  NORSE  GUILDS,  AND  THE  ORIENTAL 
AND  MEDLEVAL  BUILDING  FRATERNITIES. 

TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED 

THE  LEGEND  OF  PRINCE  EDWARD. 


BY 

GEORGE  F.  FORT. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
BRADLEY  &  COMPANY, 
66  North  Fourth  Street. 
1884. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1880,  by 

GEORGE  F.  FORT, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


V**^^        J.  FAGAN  k  SON,  3a^b^fc 


PRINTED  BY  FERGUSON  BROS.  A  CO.,  PHILAD'A. 


i 


HE  following  work  has  been  written  to  supply  a  want 
long  felt  by  members  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and 
also,  it  is  believed,  by  uninitiates.  Innumerable 
books  have  appeared  from  time  to  time,  professedly 
histories  of  the  Craft,  which,  on  examination,  prove  to  be  a  mere 
repetition  of  unreliable  legends,  whose  only  claim  to  attention  is 
undoubted  age.  During  the  past  century,  an  unfortunate  spirit 
manifested  itself  among  writers  on  the  subject  of  Freemasonry,  — 
without  critical  examination  of  authorities  considered  reliable,  the 
sole  purpose  seems  to  have  been  to  produce  before  the  initiate  and 
profane,  propositions  of  an  antiquity  whose  proofs  were  essentially 
silly  and  absurd.  While  Masonic  authors  have,  in  many  instances, 
carefully  collected  material  which  added  to  a  fairer  and  more  cor- 
rect appreciation  of  Lodge  ritualism,  its  general  scope  and  purpose, 
a  too  palpable  reiteration  of  unsubstantial  and  flimsy  traditions 
has  at  length  impressed  the  minds  of  members  and  others  that  no 
other  origin  of  the  fraternity  can  be  received  than  that  which  leads 
back  to  the  Solomonian  Temple  at  Jerusalem ;  and,  indeed,  until 
within  a  few  years  past,  it  was  gravely  asserted  that  Masonry  had 
begun  in  the  garden  of  Eden.  As  a  consequence  of  such  untimely 
deductions,  a  well-defined  scepticism  naturally  sprung  up,  which, 
with  every  appearance  of  reason,  doubted  the  remote  antiquity  of 
the  Society,  and,  as  an  ultimate  concession,  maintained  its  mediaeval 
creation. 

The  present  work  is  the  result  of  years  of  labor,  whose  original 
and  persistent  design  has  uniformly  been  to  arrive  at  truth.  Often- 
times the  author  has  attempted  to  verify  the  quaint  assertion  of 
Masonic  chronicles  with  undisputed  historical  evidence,  and  in  no 
instance  are  traditions  resting  on  unsubstantiated  ground  adduced 
as  corroborative  testimony  of  the  line  of  research  which,  after 
careful  examination  of  facts,  he  has  adopted. 

iii 


iv 


PREFACE. 


It  may  be  added  that  mere  legends  or  guildic  tales  do  Dot  appear 
in  this  book,  unless  produced  in  that  portion  of  the  treatise  aban- 
doned expressly  to  the  traditional  history  of  the  Fraternity.  Fre- 
quently, isolated  parcels,  embodied  in  gossiping  manuscripts,  have 
been  raised  to  the  dignity  of  specific  mention  on  account  of 
additional  attestation  furnished  by  unequivocal  authorities.  In  a 
word,  the  constant  and  invariable  tendency  of  the  author  in  the 
ensuing  pages  is  to  bring  the  history  and  antiquities  of  the  Craft 
down  to  an  undisputed  historical  basis ;  and,  in  the  pursuance  of 
this  object,  he  was  frequently  compelled  to  abandon  the  usual  track 
followed  by  writers  on  this  subject,  and  to  rely  upon  authorities 
whose  testimony  —  found  noted  in  the  margin  —  will  be  accepted 
without  suspicion  of  intemperate  or  uncritical  zeal.  Finally,  and 
upon  this  point  the  author  desires  to  be  particularly  understood, 
this  work  aspires  only  to  such  reliability  as  is  usually  awarded  to 
carefully  prepared  histories. 

The  immediate  argument  and  scope  of  the  treatise  may  be  briefly 
stated  as  follows :  To  commence  with  a  narrative  of  the  state  of 
fine  arts  at  the  decline  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  also  of  the  prop- 
agation of  architecture  and  its  kindred  sciences  by  bodies  of 
builders,  who  developed  into  the  Middle- Age  Freemasons,  whose 
history  is  carried  down  to  the  formal  extinction  of  this  society  as 
an  operative  brotherhood,  in  the  year  1717. 

The  author  candidly  avows  that  the  First  Part  of  the  present  work 
is  purely  an  historical  thread  and  preface  to  the  subsequent  or 
archaeological  portion,  upon  which  especial  care  and  research  have 
been  bestowed.  For  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  its  preparation,  many 
of  the  principal  libraries  of  Europe  were  visited  by  the  writer,  and 
important  material  otherwise  obtained  while  sojourning  abroad. 

Among  the  several  Appendices  will  be  found  a  Contribution  to 
the  History  of  the  Lost  Word,  together  with  other  valuable  docu- 
mentary evidence,  which  is  added  to  make  the  same  more  accessible 
to  the  public  and  fraternity  at  large. 

The  author  entertains  a  hope  that  his  work  will  find  its  way  into 
the  hands  of  those  who  are  not  members  of  the  Fraternity,  and  begs 
leave  to  say  emphatically  that  the  treatise  has  not  been  prepared 
exclusively  for  Freemasons. 

Geo.  F.  Fort. 


CHAPTER  L 

PAGE 

State  of  Fine  Arts  in  Europe  from  the  Fall  of  Rome  to  Constantine  the 
Great  —  Architecture  Revived  in  the  West  under  Theoderich  the 
Goth  —  Byzantine  Builders  in  Europe  —  They  follow  their  own  Laws, 
and  are  allowed  especial  Franchises   17 

CHAPTER  II. 

Secret  Societies  Forbidden  by  Roman  Emperors  —  Guilds  in  Italy  at  an 
Early  Age  —  Papal  Indulgences  to  Building  Corporations — Masters 
of  Como  in  the  Seventh  Century   32 

CHAPTER  III. 

Architecture  and  other  Arts  Patronized  by  Charlemagne  —  Establishes 
Educational  Institutions  in  his  Empire  —  Iconoclastic  War  under  Leo, 
the  Isaurian,  in  the  Seventh  Century  —  Greek  Artists  Flee  to  Europe 
and  receive  Pontifical  Protection  —  Image  Worship  Maintained  by 
Charlemagne  —  Byzantine  Art  Corporations  Invited  to  Italy  —  Scho- 
lastic Culture  and  the  Seven  Liberal  Arts  and  Sciences  —  Mechanical 
Trades  in  Monasteries  —  Saint  Eloi  and  the  Craftsmen  —  Mosaic  Work 
—  Apprentices  and  Masters   37 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Advance  of  Art  in  the  Monasteries  —  Clerical  Architects  —  Skilled 
Painters  and  Sculptors  in  Convents  —  Pupils  Organized  into  Grades  or 
Degrees  —  Modification  of  Architectural  Style  in  Tenth  Century  — 
Continuation  of  Grecian  Influence  —  Tendency  to  Symbolism — Pro- 
gress in  Art  Stayed  until  the  Eleventh  Century   47 

CHAPTER  V. 

Social  Changes  in  the  Eleventh  Century — Individualizing  Tendencies  of 
the  Middle  Ages  — Feudal  System  —  Struggle  for  Personal  Liberty  — 
Freemasonry  Preserves  the  Characteristics  of  this  Epoch  —  Communal 

v 


vi 


CONTENTS. 


or  Guildic  Privileges  Asserted  —  Kapid  Spread  of  Mechanical  Guilds  or 
Societies — First  General  Development  in  Towns  and  Cities  —  Corpo- 
rations of  Tradesmen  and  Immunities  —  Early  Charter  to  Commune  — 
Laymen  Acquire  Knowledge  of  Building  Art  from  Ecclesiastics  —  Lay 
Artisans  become  closely  United   54 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Propagation  of  Societies  or  Guilds  for  Mutual  Protection  —  Concessions 
to  Guildic  Tradesmen  —  Mediaeval  Craftsmen  Organized  into  Mutual- 
Help  Associations  —  Their  Importance  and  Extent  —  Unsuccessful 
Efforts  to  Destroy  them  —  Right  of  Internal  Government  Recognized..  65 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Guilds  of  Freemasons  in  the  Eleventh  Century  —  Building  Art  passes 
from  the  Church  to  Organized  Craftsmen  —  Ecclesiastics  still  form  Part 
of  Masonic  Bodies — Vast  Structures  Erected  in  this  and  ensuing  Cen- 
turies—  Skilled  Workmen  alone  Admitted  among  Freemasons  —  They 
Work  on  Uniform  Plans  and  Preserve  Traditional  Types  —  Degrees  of 
Apprentice,  Fellow  or  Companion,  and  Master — Religious  Tendency 
of  Mediaeval  Masons  —  Salutary  Effect  of  these  Craftsmen  on  Archi- 
tecture —  They  go  from  Province  to  Province,  Constructing  Sacred  and 
other  Edifices   69 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Uncertainty  of  Masonic  History  at  this  Epoch  —  John  Moreau  Builds 
Melrose  Abbey  in  the  Twelfth  Century  —  A  French  Mason  —  Great 
Britain  depends  on  Gallic  Craftsmen  for  Builders  —  William  of  Sens 
—  Moreau,  Master  of  Scottish  Masons  —  Architecture  Changes  to 
Lancet  or  Gothic  Style  —  Building  Art  in  Germany  —  Cathedrals  of 
Cologne  and  Strassburg — The  Last  begun  by  Greek  Artists  —  Erwin 
of  Steinbach,  the  Master  Builder  —  His  Daughter,  Sabina,  a  Skilled 
Architect  —  Church  of  Saint  Stephen  at  Vienna   75 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Constructive  Art  in  Italy —  Cathedral  at  Pisa  Built  by  Eastern  Architects 
— Buschetto,  Master  Builder  —  Italian  Craftsmen  of  this  Epoch  —  Ec- 
clesiastic or  Dominican  Masons  —  Teutonic  Masters  in  Italy — Bridge- 
Builders —  Guilds  of  Freemasons  or  Stonecutters  in  Florence  —  Fra 
Guilelmo  Works  in  a  Masonic  Lodge  at  Santa  Croce  —  German 
Masters  —  Lodge  of  Masons  at  Orvieto  in  the  Thirteenth  Century  — 
Italian  Mngistri  Lapidum  — General  or  Grand  Master  Architect  of  the 


CONTENTS. 


vii 


PAGE 

Florentine  Campanile  —  Italy  Imitates  the  Architecture  of  Germanic 
Masters  Imported  thither  to  Construct  Cathedrals   83 


CHAPTER  X. 

Spanish  Builders  —  The  Netherlands  early  Eeceive  the  Impetus  of  Teu- 
tonic Art  —  Builders  from  Cologne  and  Strassburg  Employed  there  — 
German  Masters  in  Scandinavia  —  Germany  Radiates  Gothic  Types 
into  France  —  Notre  Dame  de  Paris  Built  by  Jean  de  Chelles,  Master 
Mason   97 

CHAPTER  XL 

Early  History  of  French  Masons  —  Rules  of  Saint  Eloi  Preserved  in  the 
Fifteenth  Century  —  Duration  of  Apprenticeship  —  Boileau,  by  Royal 
Authority,  Digests  Ancient  Masonic  Laws  —  Candidates  must  Conform 
to  Usages  and  Customs  of  the  Craft  —  None  of  Equivocal  Birth  to  be 
Received  —  Grand  Master  Recognized  in  1254  —  Master  Masons  must 
Swear  before  Him —  Nature  of  Mediaeval  Obligation  —  Grand  Master's 
Power  to  Forbid  the  Trade  to  a  Delinquent  Craftsman  —  Tools  should 
be  Seized —  Concessions  alleged  to  be  Granted  by  Charles  Martel   103 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Authentic  British  Craft  History  first  Met  in  Melrose  Abbey  —  Free- 
masons Organized  in  England  in  Thirteenth  Century  —  Traditional  As- 
sembly of  Masons  at  York  not  Reliable  —  Halliwell  Manuscript;  Its 
Antiquity ;  Copied  from  an  Older  Original  — Naymus  Graecus  and 
Charles  Martel  also  Patrons  of  English  Craftsmen  —  Masonic  Legends 
Indicate  an  Eastern  Origin  —  Gallic  Builders  in  Britain  —  When  In- 
troduced from  France  —  German  Masters  Called  to  England  —  Legend 
of  the  Four  Martyrs   113 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

English  Freemasons  Possess  no  Unusual  Privileges  —  Under  William  of 
Wykeham,  they  Decline  Statutory  Wages  —  Act  of  3  Henry  VI.,  De- 
claring Masonic  Chapters  and  Convocations  Void  and  Illegal,  Termi- 
nates the  Fraternity  as  a  Close  Organization  of  Craftsmen  —  Ancient 
Rites  and  Customs  still  Maintained  in  Lodges  —  Contract  of  a  Lodge 
for  Tiling  in  Reign  of  Henry  VI.  —  Manuscript  of  this  Monarch  — 
Masons  Obliged  to  Obey  Royal  Warrant  —  Signs  and  Tokens  Forbidden 
Guilds  in  Fifteenth  Century  —  Lodges  of  the  Freemasons  —  Persons 
of  High  Position  Initiated  at  an  Early  Period  into  Masonic  Lodges  — 
Clergy  Elected  to  Membership  in  Guilds   125 


\ 


viii 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

PAGE 

Freemasonry  in  Britain  in  the  Sixteenth  Century  —  Elias  Ashmole,  the 
Antiquarian,  Initiated  in  the  following  Century  —  Plot's  Narrative  of 
the  Craft  —  Zeal  among  People  of  Rank  to  become  Craftsmen  and  "  Ac- 
cepted" as  Masons  —  Sir  Christopher  Wren  as  Grand  Master  —  King 
William  Receives  the  Degrees  in  a  Lodge  at  Hampton  Court  —  Forma- 
tion of  a  Grand  Lodge  in  the  Eighteenth  Century   136 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Freemasonry  in  Germany  —  Cathedrals  of  Ulm  and  Nuremburg  and  their 
Master  Builders  —  German  Grand  Lodge  of  Masons  and  Erwin  Von 
Steinbach  —  Papal  Confirmation  —  Jurisdiction  of  the  several  Grand 
Bodies  —  Convention  of  Torgau  —  Ancient  Stonecutters'  Law  —  Old 
Landmarks  Reaffirmed  at  Torgau  —  The  Craft  continue  as  an  Opera- 
tive Society  until  the  Eighteenth  Century  —  Edict  of  1731 — Grand 
Lodge  of  Strassburg  Destroyed  by  the  French  Revolution  —  Lodges  on 
the  Continent  Opened  under  English  Charters  —  Causes  Contributing 
to  the  Overthrow  of  the  Freemasons  as  a  Body  of  Tradesmen   141 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Legendary  History  of  the  Masonic  Fraternity  —  Arts  and  Sciences  Con- 
cealed in  Columns — Tower  of  Babel  —  Euclid  and  the  Egyptian 
Princes  —  The  Israelites  obtain  Masonic  Knowledge  from  Egypt  — 
Solomon  and  Hiram  the  Chief  Architects  in  Building  the  Jewish 
Temple  —  Namus  Graecus  Introduces  Masonry  to  the  Frankish  King 
Charles  Martel  —  Saint  Alban,  of  England,  Procures  Masons  from 
France — Calls  an  Assembly  of  the  Craft  —  King  Athelstan  Confirms 
the  Privileges  of  the  Fraternity  —  Prince  Edwin  is  Initiated,  and 
becomes  Grand  Master  —  Collects  Traditions  and  Establishes  Charges..  157 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

German  Legendary  History  of  the  Freemasons  —  Traced  Back  to  Dio- 
cletian's Time  —  Traditions  of  the  Four  Martyred  Stonecutters  —  Re- 
fuse to  Obey  Royal  Order  to  Engrave  an  Idolatrous  Image  —  Their 
Terrible  Death  —  Authentic  Historical  Relics  of  these  Eminent  Ma- 
sonic Patron  Saints — French  Freemasons  Trace  their  History  to  Saint 
Blasius  —  This  Saint  Suffered  Martyrdom  under  Diocletian  —  Very 
Ancient  Craft  Documents  make  no  Reference  to  the  Solomonian  Theory 
of  Masonic  Origin  —  Earliest  Traditions  Assume  merely  to  give  the 
Progress  of  Geometric  Science   172 


CONTENTS. 


ix 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

PAGE 

Name  of  Freemason,  whence  Derived  —  Not  from  Unusual  Immunities  — 
Mediaeval  Lathomii  —  Early  Use  of  word  Mason  —  Freemason  Traced 
to  Gallic  Sources  —  Signifies  Brother  Craftsmen     187 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Initiatory  Oaths  and  Lodge  Meetings  —  Obligation  of  Secrecy  —  Ceremo- 
nies in  Formal  Opening  —  Dedication  of  Lodges  —  Patron  Saints  — 
Places  of  Convening  the  Craft  —  Crypts  —  Hills  and  Valleys  —  Skilled 
Workmen  at  Master's  Command  —  Called  a  " Nomadic  Race"  —  Mo- 
nastic Masons  —  Oblati  —  Masonic  Dress  in  Middle  Ages   193 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Building  Corporations  Eagerly  Joined — Powers  of  Internal  Govern- 
ment—The Members  are  Armed  — Guilds  Assimilate  to  Church  Dis- 
cipline —  Right  of  Corporate  Burial  —  Qualifications  of  Membership 

—  Candidate  must  be  Possessed  of  Intelligence  and  Property  —  Degrees 
among  Freemasons  —  The  Apprentices  —  Craftsman  or  Companion  — 
Duration  of  an  Apprenticeship — Initiate  must  Swear  to  Preserve  Land- 
marks  203 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Fellow-craftsmen  may  Travel  and  have  a  Mark  —  Preliminary  Arrange- 
ments for  Initiation  —  Burlesque  Ritualism  —  Preparation  for  the 
Degree  —  Grip  and  Password  Conferred  —  White  Gloves  and  the 
Banquet  —  Mediaeval  Lodge :  how  Entered  by  a  Travelling  Brother  — 
The  Warden,  or  Master,  Wears  a  Hat  —  Masonic  Greeting  —  Especial 
Privileges  of  a  Wandering  Companion  —  To  be  Helped  and  Receive 
Support  —  Cry  for  Assistance  —  The  Secrets  of  Ancient  Freemasons  — 
Moral  Principles  and  Perfect  Mechanical  Skill  —  Liberal  Arts  and 
Sciences  —  Masons  shall  Assist  each  other  —  The  Master's  Prerogatives 

—  Temperate  Habits  Inculcated  —  Christian  Influence  over  the  Frater- 
nity —  A  Warden's  Duties  in  the  Master's  Absence  —  His  Oath  of  Office 
on  a  Square  and  Gauge  —  Freemasons:  how  Organized  when  at  Work 

—  System  of  a  Craftsman's  Labor   211 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Wages  of  Builders :  what,  and  when  Paid  —  Compensation  by  the  Ordi- 
nance of  1254  —  The  Warden  Guards  Lodge  Records  —  Pays  the  Craft 
at  Sunset  —  The  Master :  his  Relations  to  the  Members  —  Is  the  Judge, 
Custodian  of  Plans,  and  Lays  out  Work  —  A  Master  must  be  Tried  and 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Approved  by  two  Master  Builders  —  Lodge  to  be  Free  from  Discord, 
and  Typical  of  Perfect  Purity  —  Treasurer  —  Charges  against  Delin- 
quents —  Several  Lodges  around  Large  Structures  —  Expulsion  of  a 
Master  —  Confessional   229 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Relative  Duties  of  Masonic  Craftsmen — Shall  be  Upright  and  True  to 
each  Other  —  Must  Respect  the  Romish  Church  —  Not  Compelled  to 
be  Affiliated  —  Certificate  of  Membership  —  Contracts  Terminate  on  St. 
John's  Day  —  Dangerous  Weapons  Excluded  from  Lodge  —  Slander 
Forbidden  —  General  or  Grand  Master  —  Master  of  the  Work  ?  —  None 
to  leave  Lodge  without  Permission  —  Sick  Brethren  Assisted   242 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Powers  incident  to  the  Master's  Position  —  Prerogative  as  Supreme 
Arbiter —  Petty  Justice  Recognized  —  The  Tools  of  a  Rebellious  Crafts- 
man Liable  to  Seizure  —  Civil  Authority  Invoked  —  Masonic  Tribunals 
Imitated  after  Royal  Courts  —  Jurisdiction  of  Grand  and  Subordinate 
Bodies  —  Annual  Convocations  —  Masonic  Court:  how  Constituted  — 
Wardens  Preside  —  Penalty  for  Disclosing  Craft  Arcana   252 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Close  Identity  between  a  Lodge  of  Masons  and  Gothic  Courts  —  A  Sacred 
Place — Pagan  Customs  Untouched  by  Christianity  —  Northern  Tribu- 
nals Held  on  Hills  and  in  the  Open  Air  —  Circular  and  Quadrangular 
in  Shape  —  Court  Enclosed  by  Pales  or  Pfahl  —  A  Pallirer,  Paleman, 
or  Warden  —  Opening  of  both  Bodies  with  a  Colloquy  —  Convened  at 
Sunrise,  Close  at  Sunset  —  Lunar  Influence  —  Formal  Symbolism  and 
Order  for  Silence  —  Proclamation  of  Obedience — Why  Candidates  of 
Servile  Birth  are  Excluded  from  Mediaeval  Freemasons  —  Teutonic 
Courts  Close  with  Banquet   263 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  Master's  Mallet  or  Gavel  —  Its  Antiquity  Derived  from  the  Scandi- 
navians—  Symbol  of  Power  —  Type  of  Possessory  Right — Hammer 
Convened  Germanic  Court — Auctioneer's  Implement — Originated  from 
Thor's  Miolner  —  Mallet  Used  in  Northern  Funerals  —  Hammer  Sign, 
or  Cross —  Master's  Authority  Rests  on  the  Gavel  —  Typical  of  Death 
—  A  Mallet  Actually  Used  by  the  Norse  to  Slay  the  Impotent  — 
Charles  Martel  and  his  Masonic  Connection  —  Claimed  as  a  Patron  on 
Account  of  Carrying  a  Hammer   273 


CONTENTS. 


xi 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

PAGE 

The  Three  Symbolic  Columns  of  a  Lodge  —  Taken  from  Norse  Temple 
Furniture  —  Their  Prototypes  in  Upsala  —  Pedestals  of  Principal 
Deities  of  Northern  Mythology  —  Odin,  Thor,  and  Frey  —  These  Sig- 
nify Wisdom,  Strength,  and  Beauty  —  Shibboleth,  or  Frey,  Productive- 
ness —  Her  Emblem  —  Three  Emblematic  Lights  of  Freemasons  — 
Their  Pagan  Origin  and  Keference  to  the  Divinities  Mentioned — North, 
why  a  Place  of  Darkness  —  Exact  Orientation  of  Gothic  Court  Repro- 
duced in  a  Masonic  Lodge  —  East,  West,  South  —  The  North  —  Stars 
in  Lodge  Derived  from  Open-air  Assemblage   286 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

A  Mediaeval  Lodge:  how  Approached — Knocks  —  Master's  Hat — Em- 
blematic of  Superiority  and  Acquisition  —  Gessler's  Hat,  Type  of 
Power  —  Worn  by  Teutonic  Judges  —  Craft  Convened  by  Distinct  Raps 

—  Three  Blows  with  a  Gavel  —  The  Judicial  Mace  —  The  Justice  and 
Master  to  be  Seated  —  Significance  of  the  Official  Staff — Three  Steps 
to  Master's  Chair  —  Similar  Gradation  in  Upsala  Temple  —  Numerals 
in  Lodge  Ritual  —  Three  as  a  Fundamental  Norm  —  Five  and  Seven 

—  Application  to  Legal  Purposes   300 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Mediaeval  and  Masonic  Obligations  —  Virtue  Inherent  in  Material  — 
Scandinavian  Fetichism —  Square,  Gauge,  and  Compass:  why  Used  in 
Ancient  Oath  —  Right  Hand  in  Swearing  —  Oath  by  the  Jewish  Jeho- 
vah —  Antiquity  of  the  Word  "  Hail,"  or  "  Hale  "  —  From  a  Teutonic 
Root,  Signifying  Concealment — Its  Use  in  Oath  of  Middle  Ages  — 
Punishment  for  Temple  Breaking  —  Other  Penalties  —  Cord,  its  Sym- 
bolism —  The  Shoe  —  Installation  Procession   313 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

Masons'  Marks  of  the  Early  and  Middle  Ages  —  Their  Practical  Use  — 
Great  Diversity — Their  Style  Oriental  —  Not  always  Symbolical  — 
The  Cross  Sign  —  Mallet,  Shoe,  and  Trowel  —  Marks  Used  to  Dis- 
tinguish Property  —  Are  of  a  Geometric  Outline  —  Squares,  Circles, 
Compasses,  and  Triangles  —  Early  Application  by  Byzantine  Builders 
—  Memorial  Square — Columns  of  Joachin  and  Boaz  —  Their  Evident 
Symbolism  —  Saint  Marc's  Cathedral  and  Marks  —  Builders'  Signs  in 
Palestine  Identical  with  European  —  Marks  a  Portion  of  Mediaeval 
Lodge  Ritual  —  When  Conferred  —  Not  to  be  Changed  —  Must  be  En- 
roiled   323 


xii 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

PAGE 

Byzantine  Art  in  Europe  —  The  Translation  of  the  Koman  Capital  to 
Byzantium  —  The  Centre  of  Fine  Arts  —  Greek  Architecture  in 
Foreign  Lands  —  Introduced  into  Italy  at  an'  Early  Age  —  Grecian 
Artists  in  Spain  —  Paganization  of  Christianity  —  Mosaic  Pavement 
and  Star  —  The  Christian  Church  Perpetuates  Paganism  —  Byzantine 
Builders  are  the  Heirs  of  Ancient  Craftsmen  —  Corporations  of  Greek 
Artisans  Reorganize  on  a  Christian  Basis  —  Geometricians  Honored 

—  Ancient  Colleges  Destroyed  —  Guilds  of  Tradesmen  Allowed  by 
Imperial  Rome  —  Immunities  to  Corporations  of  Builders  at  By- 
zantium —  Old  Traditions  Assimilated  to  the  New  Faith   343 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Jewish  Influence  in  Remodelling  Eastern  Colleges  —  Israelitish  Scholars 
and  Mathematicians  —  Furore  for  Ancient  Rites  of  the  Hebrews  — 
Roman  Emperors  Borrow  from  Mosaic  Legislation  —  King  Solomon's 
Temple — Legends  of  the  Jews  Substituted  in  Byzantine  Corporations 
for  Pagan  Traditions  —  Merged  into  Gothic  Sodalities  —  Marvellous 
Scientific  and  Mental  Development  of  the  Lombards  —  Papal  Privi- 
leges to  the  Freemasons — Political  Troubles  Drive  Skilled  Architects 
to  Italy — Received  by,  and  Affiliate  with,  their  Collegiate  Brethren  — 
Junction  of  Byzantine  Building  Corporations  with  Gothic  Guilds   368 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Christianity  Retains  Northern  Superstitions— Teutonic  Banquets  Pre- 
served by  Freemasonry  —  Toasts  to  the  Dead  —  Christian  Saints  Sub- 
stituted for  Heathen  Divinities  —  Heathen  Rites  and  Customs  Un- 
changed by  Professors  of  the  New  Religion  —  Churches  Erected  on 
Sites  of  Pagan  Temples  —  Festival  Days  Continued  by  Christian 
Priests  —  Guilds  Maintain  Ancient  Usages   379 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Teutonic  Sodalities  Coeval  with  the  German  Races— Never  Destroyed 

—  Guilds  Instituted  in  Monasteries  —  Preserve  Heathen  Customs  — 
Dedicated  to  Christian  Saints  —  Anglo-Saxon  Associations  —  Members 
Wear  Badges,  and  Duly  Obligated  —  Guilds  in  the  Year  1389  —  Ab- 
juration Formula  of  743  —  Societies  Celebrate  the  Worship  of  Heathen 
Deities — Open  to  both  Sexes  —  Joined  by  Nobility  and  Ecclesiastics 

—  The  Practice  of  Charity  —  Mutual  Help  Enjoined  —  Chaplain  — 
Guilds  in  the  Time  of  Charlemagne  —  Oath-Bound  Societies  —  Col- 
leges of  Builders  and  Gothic  Guilds  —  Ancient  Formularies  of  Temple 
Worship  Preserved  by  these  Bodies   389 


CONTENTS.  xiii 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

PAGE 

Jewish  Traditions  Contributed  to  Gothic  Sodalities  —  The  Hiramic  Le- 
gend —  His  Assassination  —  The  Mallet  —  Identical  with 1  the  Norse 
God  Baldur  — The  Lost  Word— The  Search  for  the  Slain  —  Twelve 
Companions  —  Twelve  Scandinavian  Gods — Number  for  a  Lodge  — 
The  Legends  Typify  the  Sun  God  —  Hammer  as  an  Emblem  of  Death — 
Celebration  of  Life,  Death,  and  Burial,  in  Guilds  —  Symbolism  of  Im- 
mortality and  Eesurrection  —  Teutonic  Mysteries   407 


CHAPTER  XXXYI. 

The  "Faculty  of  Abrac "—  Genuineness  of  the  Henry  VI.  MSS.  — Deri- 
vation of  Abrac  or  Abraxas — Abracadabra:  its  Mystical  Properties 
—  Abraxas  Stones  and  Jehovah's  Name  — Type  of  Power  —  Used  as  a 
Charm  —  Universal  Belief  in  Magic  during  Middle  Ages  —  Solomon's 
Temple  Built  by  the  Omnific  Word  —  Moses  and  the  True  Name  — 
Mediaeval  Superstition  of  Name  Potency  —  Powers  of  the  Jehovah  — 
Cabala  —  Jah,  or  Yod,  Creates  Heaven,  etc.  —  True  Pronunciation 
Lost  —  Substitute  —  Abrac :  "  Sacred  Name  "  —  Teutonic  Notions  of 
Magic  —  Kunes  —  Norse  Word  Power — Identity  with  Jewish   417 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

Derivation  of  Word  "  Mason  " —  Traced  to  Mace,  or  Hammer  —  Medi- 
aeval Symbolical  Uses  of  this  Implement  —  Thor's  Weapon  —  Spanish 
Mazo  —  Tragic  Powers  of  Mace  —  Emblem  of  Authority  —  The  Mid- 
dle-Age Mationes  and  Maceronii  —  Lapidicini,  or  Stone-Cutters  — 
Translated  by  Boileau  as  Maeons  —  Early  English  Mason  —  The  Medi- 
aeval Craft  Known  by  this  Name   431 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

The  Legend  of  Prince  Edwin  —  Edwin  Unknown  to  the  Craft  till  the 
Fifteenth  Century  —  Masons  first  Come  into  England  in  Benedict's 
Time  — He  Brings  Skilled  Artificers  in  the  Eighth  Century  — The 
Holy  Four  Martyrs  — Patrons  of  the  Venetian  Masons  —  Masonic 
Hall  in  Venice  in  the  Seventeenth  Century  Dedicated  to  these  Saints...  438 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


APPENDIX. 


A. 


PAGE 


A  Contribution  to  the  History  of  the  Lost  Word,  by  Rev.  J.  F. 
Garrison,  M.D. 

History  of  the  Lost  Word  —  Anxiety  of  the  Ancients  to  Know  the  True 
Name  —  Its  Presumed  Powers  —  The  Targums  —  The  Sacred  Word 
to  the  Jews — Jehovah,  or  J.  H.  V.  H. —  Substitute — Pronunciation 
of  True  Name  Lost  —  How  Received  by  the  High-Priest  —  Scriptures 
Eead  in  the  Jewish  Synagogues — Temple  for  the  Name  —  Queen  of 
Sheba  Visits  Solomon  to  Obtain  the  "Word" — It  is  Concealed  in  a  * 
Eod  —  Its  Potency  —  Hindoo  Omnific  Word  —  Tetragrammaton  — 
Essenes:  how  Constituted  —  Eagerness  to  Obtain  the  Divine  Name  — 
Abraxas  —  The  Gnostics  —  Cabala  —  Point  Within  a  Circle  —  The 
Yod  —  Light  —  Jewish  Wisdom,  Strength,  and  Beauty  —  Jehovahs  in 
Triangles  —  Three  Lighted  Candles  —  Importance  of  Careful  Examina- 
tion of  the  Subject   449 


Reglements  stjr  ees  Arts  et  Metiers  de  Paris.   Redig6s  au  xiii 
Siecle,  Par  Etienne  Boileau  


B. 


Edictum  Liutprandris  Regis 


477 


c. 


The  Manuscript  of  Henry  VI 


483 


E. 

Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  vom  Jahre  1462, 


486 


THE 

EARLY  HISTORY 

OP 

FREEMASONRY. 


xvi 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY 

AND 

ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

State  of  Fine  Arts  in  Europe  from  the  Fall  of  Rome  to  Con- 
stantine  the  great  —  architecture  revived  in  the  west  under 
Theoderich  the  Goth  —  Byzantine  Builders  in  Europe  —  They 
follow  their  own  laws,  and  are  allowed  especial  franchises.' 

the  later  Roman  emperors,  fine  arts 
gradually  declined.  Notwithstanding  Mar- 
cus  Aurelius,  by  government  patronage  and 
personal  example,1  endeavored  to  stimulate  archi- 
tectural art  into  a  healthy  activity,  his  efforts 
were  futile.  The  few  remnants  of  this  and  suc- 
ceeding periods,  which  have  survived  the  destruc- 
tive energy  of  time  and  barbaric  warfare,  evince  the  rapid 
decay  of  an  accurate  science,  and,  what  is  equally  percep- 
tible, a  decided  transformation  of  that  characteristic  of 
architecture  which  was  transplanted  by  Grecian  artists  to 

1  Operam  praetera  pingendo  sub  magistro  Diogneto  dedit.  Julius  Capi- 
tolinus,  In  vita  M.  Antonini  Philos,  c.  iv.  In  order  to  restrain  the  vicious 
tendencies  of  a  deteriorating  taste,  this  distinguished  ruler  applied  himself 
diligently  to  theatrical  and  philosophical  studies,  and  in  the  pursuance  of 
his  purpose  for  the  social  elevation  of  his  subjects,  frequently  appeared  as  an 
actor  on  the  stage. 

2*  B  17 


1 8  THE  EARL  Y  HIST  OR  Y  A  ND 


Rome.  Under  Diocletian  we  may  detect  the  introduction 
of  the  perpendicular  principle  as  opposed  to  the  horizontal 
of  the  ancient  Greeks.1  Here  is  the  clearly  defined  transi- 
tion to  a  style  which  prevailed  during  the  Middle  Ages, 
and  the  aspiring  columns,  surmounted  by  arches  of  this 
era,  subsequently  reached,  in  Gothic  structures,  to  the  full 
development  of  the  perpendicular  idea.  Although  the 
early  Christians  made  no  amends  for  the  destruction  of 
antique  monuments,2  during  the  reign  of  Constantine  the 
Great  a  temporary  zeal  was  manifested,  by  reason  of  his 
profession  of  the  Christian  religion.  The  Christians 
received  at  his  hands  a  number  of  pagan  temples,  which, 
being  suitably  altered,  were  used  by  them  for  their  relig- 
ious ceremonies.  In  the  construction  of  churches,  or 
basilika,  the  remains  of  earlier  works  were  used,3  and 
arranged  in  an  uncouth,  tasteless  manner.4  Not  only  is 
this  total  disregard  of  sound  principles  of  art  perceptible 
in  the  architecture  of  the  age,  but  is  more  strongly  evinced 
in  the  freedom  of  enthusiastic  Christian  artists,  who,  in 
order  to  display  their  servile  subserviency  to  the  will  of  a 
powerful  monarch,  by  a  simple  substitution  of  a  head, 
attributes  or  inscription,  transformed,  without  scruple,  a 
Jupiter  into  a  God  the  Father  and  a  Venus  into  a  Virgin.5 

1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst  vom  fruhsten  Alterlhume  bis  in  die  neueren 
Zeiten,  p.  411. 

2  Hope,  Historical  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  161. 

3  Luebke,  Vorschule  zum  Studium  der  kirchlichen  Kunst,  pp.  4-6,  says  the 
Christian  architects  modelled  the  first  churches  of  the  new  religion  so  closely 
after  the  basilika,  or  ancient  halls  of  judicature,  that  this  characteristic  thus 
originally  impressed  upon  these  sacred  edifices  was  perpetuated  for  many 
centuries. 

4  Die  Form  friiherer  Werke  nachgeahmt,  aus  Zeiten,  in  denen  die  Kunst 
noch  nicht  ganz  herab  gesunken  aber  in  einer  rohen,  geschmacklosen  Zusam- 
men-setzung.    Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  414. 

5  Pour  servir  les  volontes  du  puissant  empereur,  des  artistes  se  trouverent, 
qui  par  de  simples  substitutions  de  tetes,  d'attrilut  ou  d'inscription,  faisaient 
sans  scrupule  d'un  Jupiter  un  Dieu  le  pere,  et  une  Vierge  d'une  Venus.  La- 
croix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  352.    How  largely  this  principle  of  pagan- 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


19 


Previous  to  the  adoption  of  that  Christian  symbolism, 
which  began  to  be  introduced  into  the  rites  of  the  new 
religion  about  the  period  of  the  translation  of  the  imperial 
residence  from  Rome  to  Byzantium,  nearly  all  works  of 
art  were  slavish  imitations,  by  careless  and  incompetent 
artists,  of  the  remains  of  a  classical  antiquity.1  The 
gradual  increase  of  elaboration  and  luxury  of  art  finally, 
under  the  Byzantines,  at  this  period,  ended  in  a  lamentable 
poverty  of  taste.  From  the  third  century  to  the  time  of 
Constantine,  the  coins  of  the  empire  exhibit  a  constant 
tendency  to  contract  the  busts  of  the  emperors,  in  order  to 
bring  more  prominently  forward  the  adventitious  sur- 
roundings. To  such  an  extent  was  this  carried,  that  these 
effigies  suddenly  ceased  to  show  any.  relief  —  the  outlines 
also  became  meagre  and  singularly  incorrect.  The  entire 
representation  is  dull  and  without  character,  and  so  unskil- 
fully drawn  that  the  figures  of  different  persons  thus 
moulded  are  alone  distinguishable  by  means  of  the  inscrip- 
tions. At  this  time  the  lifeless  style  which  characterizes 
the  Byzantine  coins  and  plastic  art  had  become  permanent. 
The  elements  of  art  had  ceased  to  exist.2 

The  Emperor  Constantine,  in  transferring  the  capital 
of  the  empire  to  Byzantium,  or,  as  it  was  subsequently 
denominated,  Constantinople,  endeavored,  however,  to 
preserve  the  glorious  traditions  of  ancient  Rome.  As  a 
concession  to  such  of  his  subjects  who  still  revered  the 
religion  of  antiquity,  and  persisted  in  burning  incense 
upon  the  rapidly  diminishing  altars  of  their  gods,  he 
erected  temples  closely  imitated  after  those  of  the  aban- 

ization,  or  substitution  of  pagan  forms  and  ceremonies,  by  Christianity,  entered 
into  the  organization  of  the  early  church,  will  be  adverted  to  in  the  progress 
of  this  work. 

1  Avant  que  l'art  eut  adopte  on  plutot  cr£e"  le  symbolisme  chretien,  force 
lui  devoit  §tre  d'emprunter,  etc.   Lacroix,  Ibid.,  p.  353. 

2  Die  Elemente  der  Kunst  gehn  auf  merkwurdig  schnelle  Weise  verloren. 
O.  Mueller,  Archceologie  der  Kunst,  p.  242.  See  also  Hope,  Essay  on  Archi- 
tecture, Vol.  I.,  p.  161. 


20 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


doned  city,  and  decorated  them  with  elegant  pilasters 
appropriated  from  ancient  edifices.  He  built  for  the 
professors  of  the  new  faith  houses  of  worship  in  con- 
formity with  their  present  requirements,  and  embellished 
them  with  the  symbolic  appliances  essential  for  the  per- 
formance of  the  Christian  rites.1  In  the  newly-constructed 
forum  at  Constantinople,  he  caused  a  metal  statue  of  the 
Good  Shepherd  to  be  erected,  and  set  up  brazen  images  of 
a  Hart  in  other  places.  Both  the  Good  Shepherd  and 
Hart  are  among  the  most  ancient  of  Christian  symbols ; 
the  first  named  referred  to  Christ,  the  latter  signified  the 
intense  thirst  of  Christians  for  divine  presence. 

The  early  Christian  world,  at  its  inception,  seemed  but 
little  disposed  to  perpetuate  the  use  of  plastic  art  in 
order  to  preserve  a  record  of  noteworthy  events,2  and  for 
long,  excepting  in  some  of  the  provinces  of  the  Roman 
empire  and  at  Byzantium,  it  was  suffered  to  languish  into 
a  temporary  obscurity.  Wherever  this  art  was  used,  even 
by  the  Byzantine  artists,  more  attention  seems  to  have 
been  bestowed  upon  drawing,  with  greater  or  less  accuracy, 
minute  distinctions  of  rank,  through  position  and  insignia, 
than  upon  the  representation  of  character  and  individual- 
ity. In  the  preparation  of  tablets,  whether  for  sacred  use 
or  otherwise,  from  precious  metal,  or  in  the  incisions  upon 
engraved  gems,  although  great  dexterity  is  visible,  the 
absence  of  that  refined  taste  and  elevated  style,  which 
belong  to  ancient  Greece  and  earlier  Rome,  is  manifestly 

1  Symbols  adapted  by  Pagan  converts  to  the  Christian  religion  were  largely 
borrowed  from  the  symbolic  paraphernalia  of  their  ancestors.  Although 
the  Jewish  proselytes  rejected  with  devout  horror  all  imagery  which 
represented  the  Trinity,  the  rapidly  increasing  neophytes  directly  withdrawn 
from  the  worship  of  paganism,  demanded  and  gained  such  concessions 
from  the  evangelists.  Hope,  On  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  chap,  xvi.;  Stieglitz, 
Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  416  ;  also  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture,  p.  170. 

2  Den  Verfall  der  Kunst  zeigen  auch  die  Consecrations-Muenzen  (unter 
Gallien)  so  wie  bei  offentlichen  spielen  ausgetheilten  Contormaten.  Mueller, 
Archceologie  der  Kunst,  pp.  242-3;  Hope,  Ibid.,  p.  161. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


21 


evident.  One  of  the  principal  branches  of  plastic  art, 
which  was  pursued  at  Byzantium  more  assiduously,  per- 
haps, than  architecture,  was  the  production  of  ivory 
memorandum  plates,  designated  as  diptychs.  Upon  these 
much  labor  and  skill  were  bestowed.  This  kind  of  han- 
diwork was  the  peculiar  property  of  the  last  days  of 
declining1  Rome ;  an  art  which  was  followed  with  zeal 
under  the  first  Christian  emperors,  and  attained  its  highest 
perfection  during  the  Middle  Ages.2  Particular  attention 
was  given  by  the  artists  of  Byzantium  to  the  engraving 
of  cameos  from  red  jasper,  many  of  which  present  a 
variety  of  Christian  objects.3 

The  increased  activity  which  the  building  of  a  new  city, 
involving  the  plans  and  construction  of  a  metropolis  for 
the  recently-professed  religion  of  Rome,  necessarily  pro- 
duced, caused  a  great  influx  of  artists  into  Constantinople, 
both  from  the  outlying  provinces  of  the  empire  and  from 
Rome  itself,  and  with  great  probability  from  Greece.4 
Here,  under  Constantine  the  Great,  were  assembled  the 
most  skilled  artists,  attracted  by  the  inducements  of  regu- 


1  Mueller,  Archozologie  der  Kunst,  p.  243. 

2  The  museums  of  Europe  are  rich  in  collections  of  Byzantine  diptychs  and 
cameos.  According  to  Codex  XI.,  c.  ii.,  of  the  Emperor  Leo,  there  were 
certain  works  of  art  which  only  the  royal  artists,  Palatium  artifices,  were 
allowed  to  prepare.  A  steady  demand,  both  by  aristocratic  Eomans  and 
luxurious  rulers,  for  elaborately  cut  gems,  caused  the  vitality  of  this  branch 
of  plastic  art  to  be  perpetuated.  Heliogabalus  was  so  much  enraptured  with 
the  cameo  etchings  of  certain  distinguished  artificers,  that  he  wore  them  on 
his  feet.  Aeli  Lampridius,  Antonin.  Heliogabal.,  c.  xxiii.  When  Aurelius 
entered  the  Temple  of  the  Sun,  after  the  capture  of  Zenobia,  in  order  to 
perform  the  sacred  rites,  he  wore  garments  of  beautiful  purple,  fastened  with 
elaborately-wrought  jewels.  Tunc  Mae  vestes  quas  in  templo  Solis  videmus, 
confertae  gemmis  —  genuo  purpurae.  Flavius  Vopisc,  Vita  Div.  Aurelian., 
c.  xxviii.    See  Mongez,  Plate  68,  etc. 

3  The  cabinet  of  antiquities  at  Vienna,  according  to  Mueller,  in  loco,  ut 
supra,  possesses  a  rare  collection  of  gems  of  the  period  of  Constantine,  or 
later. 

4  Hope,  On  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  chap.  xii. 


22 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


lar,  unvarying  labor,  and  the  assurances  of  satisfactory 
compensation.  From  this  time  until  the  full  development 
of  the  Romish  church,  Rome  ceased  to  be  the  central  point 
of  interest,  and,  consequently,  seriously  suffered  in  material 
advantage  as  well  as  in  architectural  art.  The  Byzantine 
remains  of  this  age,  or  of  such  portions  at  least  as  have 
escaped  the  wasting  effects  of  a  destructive  zeal  and  the 
action  of  time,  indicate  a  change  in  the  character  and  de- 
tails of  architecture.  Under  Diocletian,  the  artists  strove 
to  rival  and  transcend  earlier  architects  in  the  multiplicity 
of  ornamentation,  and  by  this  means  the  form  was  sacri- 
ficed to  tasteless  artifice.1  Each  artist  arrogated  the  lib- 
erty to  alter  and  substitute  according  as  his  caprice  dic- 
tated, and  made  use  of  all  adventitious  appliances  to  create 
novelty  in  order  to  captivate  a  vitiated  taste.  Whatever 
may  have  been  the  tendency  to  overloading  edifices,  dur- 
ing this  period,  with  a  superabundance  of  elegance,  under 
Constantine  the  architects  fell  into  the  error  of  totally 
ignoring  all  ornamentation.  A  style  of  architecture  was 
suddenly  introduced  which  contemplated  the  barest  out- 
lines of  art  and  complete  simplicity.  Cornices  and  chap- 
ters were  divested  of  embellishment,  and,  in  consequence, 
the  entire  structure  presented  an  appearance  of  repulsive 
poverty  and  dryest  details.2  By  this  indifference  to  even 
a  moderate  finish,  a  loss  of  readiness  in  technical  minute- 
ness was  superinduced.  In  order  to  remedy  this  glaring 
defect,  Rome  and  the  provinces  were  robbed  of  their  col- 
umns and  other  works  of  art,  that  these  might  be  used  in 
the  construction  of  new  buildings  at  Byzantium.3    In  this 


1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  417.  2  Stieglitz,  Ibid. 

s  Ibid.,  Constantin  fiihrt  Bilder  von  Kom.,Griechenland,  besonders  aus  Klein- 
asien  nach  Byzanz.  Mueller,  Archceologie  der  Kunst,  p.  255.  The  policy  adopted 
by  this  emperor  denuded  the  other  cities  of  the  empire  of  their  most  valued 
objects  of  art.  On  the  piazza  of  St.  Sophia,  in  Constantinople,  before  the  time 
of  Justinian,  four  hundred  and  twenty-seven  statues,  the  handicraft  of  much 
older  artists,  were  erected.    Mueller,  Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


23 


way  edifices  thus  constructed  and  finished  exhibited  the 
most  anomalous  character.  Frequently,  elegantly-wrought 
pilasters,  brought  from  Greece  or  Asia  Minor,  were  placed 
by  the  side  of  other  columns  of  unequal  length  and  dimen- 
sions ;  and  dissimilar  parts  of  buildings,  thus  appropriated, 
were  conjoined  without  taste.  These  detached  parcels,  thus 
combined  with  the  productions  of  native  artists,  afforded 
most  glaring  evidence  of  the  degeneracy  of  art. 

We  have  seen  that,  under  Constantine  the  Great,  an  ele- 
vated taste  in  the  erection  of  public  and  other  edifices  no 
longer  prevailed.  The  same  statement  is  equally  true  of 
sculpture  as  a  plastic  art  and  of  painting.  In  the  age  suc- 
ceeding this  century,  no  perceptible  alteration  occurred  in 
the  relative  condition  of  architecture.  Other  causes  hin- 
dered a  full  expansion  of  true  elegance,  and  checked  the 
limited  advance  of  artistic  knowledge.  The  want  of  work- 
men who  could  comprehend  and  adapt  the  principles  of 
genuine  art  began  to  be  sadly  felt.  Unacquainted  with 
natural  rules,  the  artisan  of  the  period  was  content  with 
his  labor  if  he  were  successful  in  satisfying  the  demands 
of  a  nationality  fast  decaying.  Unimpressed  with  the 
grand  relics  of  pagan  antiquity,  he  wrought  out  the  feeble 
results  of  an  imagination  taken  captive  by  the  increasing 
strength  of  a  new  religion,  and  struggled  to  mould  the 
constantly  arising  sacred  structures  upon  the  will  and 
direction  of  a  religious  sect,  whose  jubilant  enthusiasm 
urged  them  to  deviate  from  all  standard  models  of  temple 
architecture.1 

Such,  then,  was  the  situation  of  art  knowledge  during 
the  ages  of  Constantine  and  his  successors  until  the  fifth 

1  At  this  epoch,  which  most  jeopardized  the  fine  arts,  a  species  of  temple 
iconoclasm  was  inaugurated  by  the  indiscreet  zeal  of  the  new  converts  to 
Christianity,  and  suffered  to  continue  without  restraint  from  the  Roman  au- 
thorities. But  of  all  the  houses  of  ancient  religious  culture,  those  which  had 
contained  the  rites  of  Mithras  and  other  licentious  ceremonials  were  especially 
objects  of  zealous  wrath.    See  Mueller.  Archceologie  der  Kunst,  p.  255,  \  2. 


24 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


century,  when  Theoderich,  who  had  been  educated  at 
Constantinople,  ascended  the  throne  of  the  Western  em- 
pire. Whatever  remained  of  art,  in  the  meantime,  was 
undoubtedly  Byzantine,  and  the  professors  of  the  same, 
whether  at  Constantinople  or  dispersed  throughout  the 
provinces,  were  also  of  that  nationality.  The  efforts  of 
Theoderich  to  repair  the  ruins  of  Rome  and  other  cities 
in  Italy,  caused  by  the  inroads  of  the  Northern  nations, 
in  a  measure  contributed  to  preserve  a  general  knowledge 
of  the  principles  of  the  tine  arts.  The  emperor,  in  re- 
building the  several  Italian  cities,  seems  to  have  been 
influenced  by  the  best  interests  of  his  Roman  subjects  ;l 
because,  by  the  Goths,  according  to  Procopius,2  it  was  con- 
sidered debasing  to  receive  instruction  in  science  which 
tended  to  enervate  and  depress  the  mind  —  that  he  who 
trembled  with  fear  before  the  master's  birch  would  never 
look  with  an  undaunted  eye  upon  a  sword  or  spear.  The- 
oderich's  exertions,  apparently,  were  mainly  directed  to 
repairing  or  replacing  older  edifices,  under  the  direction 
of  Boethius,  Symmachus,  and  Cassiodorus,  the  three  lead- 
ing spirits  at  his  court.  In  all  these  efforts,  the  pure  prin- 
ciples of  art  were  wanting  :3  they  had  vanished.  According 
to  Stieglitz,4  the  architecture  of  the  Goths,  who,  at  this 

1  Was  Theoderich  fiir  die  offentlichen  Unterriehtsaustalten  wirkte,  die  er 
bereits  erriehtet  fand,  erhielter  nur  zum  Besten  seiner  Romischen  Unterthanen. 
Stieglitz,  ubi  supra,  p.  424 ;  Hope,  On  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  chap.  xii.  This 
monarch  appointed  a  superintendent  of  public  buildings,  Comes  nitium.  Am. 
Marcellinus,  Lib.  XXI.,  c.  vi.,  and  paid  an  architect  for  the  preservation  of 
works  of  art.  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall,  Vol.  IV.,  pp.  24-5.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  Charlemagne,  no  historical  personage  impressed  his  individuality 
so  deeply  upon  the  romantic  mind  of  the  Middle  Ages.  In  mediaeval  tales 
and  heroic  poems  he  is  called  Dietrich  of  Bern.  For  a  detailed  account  of 
tlie  widely-extended  renown  of  this  Gothic  ruler,  see  Ludlow's  Popular  Epics 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  Vol.  I.,  chap.  vii. 

2  De  Bello  Gothicorum,  Lib.  I.,  p.  4.  Also  Dr.  Robertson's  Historical  Essay 
on  the  State  of  Europe,  in  Life  of  Charles  V.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  ]63. 

3  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  424. 

*  So  wenig  wie  die  Gothen,  hatten  sie  (die  Longobarden)  eine  eigene  Bau- 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


25 


period,  were  possessed  of  Italy,  is  the  Graeco-Roman, 
which  was  chiefly  introduced  and  perfected  by  the  Byzan- 
tines. Semi-circular  arches  are  numerous,  but  the  work 
lacks  execution  and  finish  of  detail.  Luebke  says,1  the 
old  Christian  basilika  preserved  an  existence  from  the 
time  of  Constantine  till  the  eleventh  century,  as  well  in 
Italy  as  the  remaining  provinces  of  the  West,  which  re- 
ceived from  Rome  its  religion,  its  priests,  and  modifica- 
tions of  its  church  architecture.  But  the  leading  charac- 
teristics of  architectural  art  of  this  period  are  such  as  were 
contributed  by  eastern  artists. 

The  Lombards,  or  primitive  Longobards,  who  succeeded 
to  the  Gothic  empire,  were  possessed  of  building  lore  in 
so  limited  a  degree,  that  all  public  edifices  erected  in  their 
domains  were  executed  by  workmen  from  Constantinople.2 
During  the  continuance  of  their  power  in  Northern  Italy, 
numerous  structures  were  founded  f  among  others,  a  church 
dedicated  to  Saint  John  the  Baptist,  near  Milan,  where 
the  celebrated  iron  crown  was  preserved.  All  these  were 
the  handiwork  of  Byzantine  artists. 

When  the  seat  of  the  empire,  in  the  year  328,  was  changed, 
Rome  had  lost  its  greatness.  The  imperial  family,  who  alone 
were  able  to  nurture  the  arts  and  sciences,  made  Constan- 
tinople the  metropolis,  and  resided  there.  In  addition  to 
this,  the  frequent  irruptions  of  a  barbarous  people  mate- 
rially added  to  the  destruction  of  the  finest  works  of 
antiquity.  It  was  alone  in  the  Orient,  especially  at 
Byzantium,  where  a  total  loss  of  art  was  stayed.  Hither 
gravitated  artists  who,  robbed  of  their  profession  in  Rome, 


kunst,  so  wenig  jene  ebenfalls  nur  kriegerischen  Unternehmung  in  sich 
widmend,  hatten  sie  Sinn  fur  die  Kunst.  Zu  alien  Bauen  die  in  ihren  Besit- 
zungen  angelegt  wurden,  bedienten  sie  sich  Byzantinischer  Kilnstler.  Ibid.,  p.  425. 

1  Vorschule  zum  Studivm  der  kirehlichen  Kunst,  p.  9. 

2  Consult,  however,  Tiraboschi,  Storia  della  Letleratura  Italiana,  Tomo  III., 
cap.  vi. 

3  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  426. 

3 


26 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


by  reason  of  translating  the  capital  to  Greece,  so  much 
the  more  readily  sought  the  new  city  as  they  were  nearly 
all  Grecian  by  nativity,1  in  order  to  consecrate  their  talents 
to  the  land  of  their  birth.  Thus  it  happened  that  the 
capital  of  the  Eastern  empire  became  the  place  where  every- 
thing tending  to  a  preservation  and  appreciation  of  art  and 
science  was  united.  Here  such  knowledge  was  cultivated 
as  the  political  disasters  in  other  countries  would  not 
permit;  and,  again,  light  from  the  Eastvwas  destined  to 
flash  forth  to  distant  lands.  Constantinople  became  an 
emporium  of  master  architects,  painters,  and  other  skilled 
artificers.2  Italy,  whose  deplorable  condition  required  it, 
was  the  first  country  whither  the  artists  from  the  Byzan- 
tine empire  travelled.  Theoderich,  king  of  the  Goths, 
who  had  liberated  Rome  and  the  surrounding  territory 
from  the  oppressions  of  an  uncivilized  people,  invited  there 
numerous  artists  of  various  kinds  to  assist  him  in  execu- 
ting the  work  of  repair  and  restoration  which  he  con- 
templated.3 Under  his  protection,  architects,  painters,  and 
sculptors  re-established  themselves  in  Italy,  and  particu- 
larly artists  skilled  in  mosaic  work,  which  seems  to  have 
been  the  invention  of  the  Greeks,  since  it  was  for  long 
designated  as  opus  Grcecanicium.* 

Notwithstanding  the  earliest  sentiment  of  the  Christian 

1  Hope,  On  Architecture,  cap.  xii.  As  is  well  known,  upon  the  extinction  of 
Hellenic  nationality,  skilled  artists  from  Greece  sought  Rome  as  the  metropolis 
for  the  display  of  their  talents ;  when  the  capital  of  the  empire  was  translated 
to  Byzantium,  the  gravitation  of  accomplished  artificers  toward  the  new  city 
naturally  began.    See  infra,  p.  344,  for  additional  information  on  this  subject. 

2  Hierhin  (Byzantium)  fliichteten  sich  die  Kiinstler,  die  in  Rom  aller  Be- 
schaftigung  beraubt,  um  so  die  lieber  Griechenland  aufsuchten,  etc.  Stieglitz, 
ubi  supra,  p.  432. 

3  Berington,  Literary  Hist,  of  the  Middle  Ages,  p.  111. 

4  Ihm  folgeten  dabei  Kiinstler,  mancherlei  art  ....  Baukiinstler,  Maler, 
Bildner,  etc.  Auch  die  Mosaik  wurde  von  Griechen  betrieben  und  war  viel- 
leicht  ihre  Erfindung,  da  sie  den  Namen  opus  Grcecanicium  erhielt.  Stieglitz, 
Ibid.,  p.  433  ;  Mueller,  Archozoloyie  der  Kunst,  p.  256  ;  Hope,  On  Architecture, 
pp.  164-8  ;  Tiraboschi,  Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana,  Tomo  II.,  p.  343. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


27 


church,  and  particularly  in  the  East,  was  opposed  to  the 
introduction  of  images  in  religious  service,  it  continued  to 
be  tolerated  until  the  iconoclastic  spirit  suddenly  arose  in 
the  eighth  century.1  In  the  meantime,  a  decided  tendency 
to  the  adoption  of  symbolic  representations  of  sacred  objects 
beo-an  to  manifest  itself.2  As  far  back  as  the  time  of  Con- 
stantine,  as  has  been  previously  remarked,  Christ  himself 
was  symbolically  presented  to  His  devout  followers  in  the 
metal  statue  of  the  Good  Shepherd.  He  was  sometimes 
represented  as  a  lamb,  a  thirsting  Hart,  or  as  a  dove,  and 
by  the  olive  branch.  But  the  most  noteworthy  of  all 
emblems,  perhaps,  which  disguised  the  secret  significance 
alone  to  the  unbelieving  Pagans,  was  in  the  fish-shaped 
outlines.3  This  symbol  is  of  especial  importance  to  the 
subject  under  consideration,  on  account  of  this  figure 
having  been  extensively  used  during  the  Middle  Ages  as  a 
mark  by  builders.  According  to  Stieglitz,4  the  sculptured 
or  mosaic  delineations  of  the  Christian  symbols  in  church 
edifices  were  very  early  designed  to  refer  to  certain  abstract 
biblical  signification.  For  instance,  the  lamb  represented 
the  Lamb  of  God,  that  bore  the  sins  of  the  world.  He  also 
frequently  appeared  holding  a  cross,  or  was  delineated 
simply  by  a  monogram.5  Sometimes  our  Saviour  appeared 
surrounded  by  twelve  lambs,  the  twelve  disciples,  who 
stand  six  on  a  side.  The  lion,  symbolical  of  the  power  of 
Christ, — the  lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  David's  offspring, 
is  also  frequently  visible ;  the  pelican  feeding  her  young, 

1  Baumgarten-Crusius,  Dogmengeschichte,  p.  384. 

2  O.  Mueller,  Archceologie  der  Kunst,  p.  213,  §  2.  This  distinguished  .arch- 
aeologist, in  the  learned  repository  cited,  has  furnished  numerous  examples  of 
the  gradual  introduction  of  symbols,  by  the  earlier  Christians,  into  their  ritual 
and  architecture,  to  some  of  which  reference  will  hereafter  be  made. 

3  Abbreviated  thus  :  IX0YS,  from  I»;<r«  Xptorot  Gtov  'Yto$  Swr^p,  which,  contracted 
to  the  above  word,  signifies  a  fish.  Vide,  en  passant,  Didron,  Christian  Icono- 
graphy, p.  108.  Upon  the  subject  of  builders'  marks  of  this  and  later  ages, 
fully  treated  in  Part  II.  of  this  work,  see  infra,  p.  323,  et  seq. 

4  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  446.  5  Didron,  op.  cit.,  pp.  55,  325. 


28 


TEE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


symbolizing  the  atonement  through  the  Saviour's  death  ; 
and  the  phoenix  arising  from  her  ashes,  as  a  portraiture  of 
the  resurrected  Christ.  In  like  manner,  the  vine  refers  to 
Him,  who  is  saying  to  His  disciples  :  I  am  the  vine  and  ye 
are  the  branches.  The  fruit  of  the  vine  is  emblematical 
of  the  blood  of  Christ.  The  cock 1  is  a  symbol  of  watch- 
fulness ;  the  hart  that  panteth  after  the  flowing  stream,  is 
the  desire  of  the  Christian  after  the  Saviour ;  and  the  dove, 
in  addition  to  its  significance  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  also  a 
type  of  virtue  and  innocence.2  I  mention  these  symbolic 
references,  which  thus  early  became  incorporated  with 
church  architecture,  on  account  of  the  frequent  recurrence 
of  the  same,  or  of  others  of  identical  signification,  in  the 
cathedrals  uf  Europe,  which  may  serve,  with  tolerable 
accuracy,  to  trace  the  origin  and  gradual  development  of 
this  interesting  subject  in  the  hands  of  the  Freemasons  of 
the  Middle  Ages.  Such  sculptured  representations  are  to 
be  found  in  different  portions  of  sacred  edifices,  but  most 
frequently  in  the  principal  entrance  to  Byzantine  churches.3 
As  access  to  these  structures  was  obtained  through  a  main 
entrance,  it  was  invested,  in  that  early  age,  with  mystical 
importance.  Christ  says,  in  one  of  the  Evangelists : 4 
"  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  that  entereth  into  the  sheep- 
fold  by  any  other  way  than  the  door,"  etc.,  and,  further: 
"  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  I  am  the  door  of  the  sheep." 
This  seized  the  imagination  of  the  Byzantine  artists,  and 
induced  them  to  represent  Christ  as  the  mystic  portal. 

1  It  is  more  than  a  curious  coincidence  that  the  symbol  of  the  cock,  as  stated 
in  the  text,  had  also  a  singular  representation  under  the  hands  of  the  Norman 
craftsmen.  See  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture,  p.  184.  The  French  Free- 
masons, at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  adopted  this  as  an  emblem  of  vigi- 
lance, and  was,  among  other  symbols,  delineated  upon  the  side-walls  of  the 
Chamber  of  Reflexion,  in  the  First  or  E.  A.  Degree.  Le  Begulateur  du  Macon, 
p.  13,  a.  d.  1801. 

2  Stieglitz,  Baukunst,  pp.  447-8  ;  Mueller,  Archceologie  der  Kunst,  p.  253  ; 
Hope,  On  Architecture,  pp.  180-3.  Abundant  evidence  in  Didron,  ubi  supra, 
p.  451,  et  seq. 

3  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  444.       4  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  etc. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


29 


Everything,  consequently,  is  directly  pointed  to  our 
Saviour.  The  holy  mother  of  Grod,  the  evangelists,  and 
martyrs  are  at  His  side.  And,  as  the  apostles  are  fre- 
quently regarded  as  the  pillars  of  the  church,  so  the  col- 
umns on  each  side  of  the  doorway  refer  to  them,  although 
oftentimes  the  columns  which  flanked  the  entrance  to  King 
Solomon's  Temple  are  substituted.1  Externally,  these  edi- 
fices present  a  singular  appearance,  but  harmonize  with  the 
symbolic  nature  of  the  jealously-guarded  portals.  Every 
variety  of  animals,  real  or  legendary,  is  sculptured  upon 
the  outer  walls.  These  are  grouped  in  attitudes  of  deadly 
conflict,  some  of  which  yield  to  matchless  strength,  and 
are  being  devoured  by  the  vanquishing  combatant.  Such 
grotesque  and  strangely-weird  figures  signify  the  con- 
stant and  unflinching  vigilance  demanded  to  guard  the 
approaches  to  the  sanctuary.  The  war- waging  monsters 
shadow  forth  the  protecting  or  antagonistic,  and  the  inim- 
ical forces  which  the  Church  triumphant  commands,  and 
leads  forth  as  a  militant  body.  So  far  as  the  interior  of 
Byzantine  churches  is  concerned,  the  same  mystical  or 
emblematic  signification  prevails,  excepting,  however,  that 
the  sanctuary  is  entirely  free  from  all  appearances  of  con- 
flict ;  here  all  is  peace, —  Christ,  the  all-powerful,  is  here  in 
all  the  majesty  of  His  divine  character,  and  establishes  the 
Church  triumphant  over  every  adversary.  These  were  the 
symbols  and  the  mystic  appliances2  which  the  Oriental 
artificers  contributed  to  the  art-knowledge  of  the  west  of 
Europe,  when  they  were  called  to  aid  in  rebuilding  and 
constructing  the  sacred  buildings  of  Northern  Italy. 

1  Stieglitz,  Ibid.,  p.  448.  This  custom  of  the  mediaeval  builders  demands 
and  will  receive  further  consideration.  Vide  Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Freimaurer, 
p.  216 ;  also,  Luebke,  Geschichte  der  Architectur,  p.  253. 

2  Luebke,  Geschichte  der  Architectur,  p.  312 ;  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture, 
p.  207;  Schauberg,  Symbolik  der  Freimaurerei,  Theil  I.,  24;  may  be  consulted 
with  advantage  upon  this  subject  and  in  this  connection.  How  largely  sym- 
bolism entered  into  mediaeval  cathedrals,  see  Luebke,  Geschichte  der  Plastik, 
pp.  272,  297,  325. 

I 


30 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


Byzantine  architecture  and  the  plastic  arts  retained  their 
several  distinguishing  features,  as  described,  down  to  the 
eighth  century.  From  Constantinople,  therefore,  as  the 
centre  of  mechanical  skill,  radiated  to  distant  countries  a 
knowledge  of  art.  The  devastations  to  which  Britain  and 
8pain  had  been  subjected,  rendered  it  necessary  that  com- 
petent workmen  should  be  secured  to  rebuild  cities  whose 
smouldering  ruins  marked  the  pathway  of  destroying 
nations.  The  capital  of  the  Byzantine  empire  furnished 
artisans  for  this  purpose.  Mueller1  asserts  that  there  were 
at  this  epoch  corporations  of  builders  in  Europe  of  Grecian 
birth,  who  maintained  an  uninterrupted  intercourse  with 
their  native  land.  What  may  have  been  the  precise  char- 
acter of  these  organizations2  is  uncertain,  but  it  can  be 
fairly  presumed,  I  think,  that  outside  of  the  limits  of  the 
Byzantine  empire  they  were  permitted  to  live  and  exercise 
a  judicial  government  among  themselves,  according  to  the 
laws  of  the  country  to  which  they  owed  allegiance.  This 
principle,  or  doctrine,  of  personal  right  to  declare  under 
what  law  a  citizen  would  elect  to  live,  was  publicly  recog- 
nized in  all  the  legal  codes  of  Europe  from  the  fall  of 
Rome  until  late  in  the  thirteenth  century.3    This  was  de- 

1  Dieser  fur  neue  Zwecke  neu  belebte  (Vorgothische  Byzantinische)  Arch- 
itectnrstyl,  welcher  sicli  immer  noch  fast  in  alien  einzelnen  Formen  an  den 
Spatromischen  anschlieszt,  herrscht  in  der  ersten  Hiilftedes  Mittelalters,  durch 
die  aus  dem  Komischen  Alterthum  fortbestehenden,  auch  wohl  mit  Griech- 
enland  fortwiihrend  zusammen-hangenden  Baucorporationen  gepflegt  und 
ausgebildet  ira  ganzen  Christlichen  Europe.    Archceologie  der  Kunst,  p.  224. 

2  Vide  infra,  Book  II.,  p.  343,  ct  seq. 

3  Savigny,  Geschichte  des  Romischen  Rechts,  Theil  I.,  cap.  iii,  \  41 :  Die 
Mannichfaltigkeit  der  zugleich  geltenden  person  lichen  Kechte  in  keinem 
Lande  groszer  gewesen  ist  als  in  Italien.  This  privilege,  as  will  be  seen  from 
the  reference  quoted,  applied  with  especial  force  to  Italy.  Each  individual 
declared  his  profession  of  law  in  a  formal  manner,  thus:  Legibus  vivens  Lan- 
gobardorum;  or,  according  to  the  more  usual  formula,  as  prescribed  to  be 
acknowledged  before  a  notary:  Qui  professus  sum  legibus  Langobardorum. 
Upon  the  marriage  of  a  Longobardic  woman  to  a  Salic  husband,  the  annexed 
profession  was  made :  Qui  professa  sum  ego  ipsa  Ferlinda  ex  natione  mea  legem 
vivere  Langobardorum,  sed  nunc  pro  ipso  viro  meo  legem  vivere  videor  Salicam. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


31 


nominated  his  profession  of  law.  Savigny  cites1  numerous 
instances  where  individuals  declared  their  profession  of  the 
Roman  law,  of  the  Salic,  or  the  leges  Alamanorum  or  Lan- 
gobardorum.  Therefore,  the  corporations  of  artists,  in  re- 
taining their  connection  with  Byzantium,  no  doubt  carried 
with  them  such  privileges  of  Grecian  citizenship,  and  the 
usages  and  privileges  incident  to  their  corporate  existence 
at  home,  and,  when  in  Italy  or  other  foreign  lands,  lived 
and  governed  themselves  in  accordance  with  the  well- 
established  principles  of  Roman  law ;  one  of  which  privi- 
leges was,  at  the  time  such  associations  of  builders  were 
introduced  into  Southern  Europe,  during  the  reigns  of 
Theoderich  and  Theodosius,  the  undoubted  right  of  a  cor- 
porate recognition.2  Consequently,  wherever  their  labor 
was  demanded  throughout  Europe,  they  were  recognized 
as  a  distinct  and  privileged  class  of  workmen,  who,  differ- 
ing from  the  less  skilled  artists  of  other  countries,  neces- 
sarily formed  a  separate  society  apart  from  that  in  which 
they  temporarily  resided.  This  system  possessed  many 
advantages.  It  presented  a  complete  organization,  whose 
members  in  foreign  lands  were  associated  by  mutual  in- 
terest, and  whose  delinquencies  could  be  promptly  corrected 
without  recourse  being  had  to  strange  judicial  interference. 
That  there  were  master  architects  among  these  Byzantine 
workmen,  who  drafted  the  plans  and  directed  their  execu- 
tion, is  beyond  doubt,  because  at  the  construction  of  the 
church  of  Saint  Sophia,  in  Constantinople,  under  the  Em- 
peror Justinian,  Anthemius  and  Isidorus  are  mentioned  as 
superintending  the  artificers  on  the  building. 

Another,  Landulfus  et  Petrus  clericus  germani  ....  qui professi  sumus  ex  natione 
nostra  legem  vivere  Langobardorum,  sed  ego  Petrus  clericus  per  clericalem  honorem 
lege  videor  vivere  Romana.  See  Muratori,  Antiq.,  Tome  I.,  pp.  345,  387.  Roger 
the  Norman,  after  the  conquest  of  Sicily,  in  the  eleventh  century,  permitted  the 
Greeks  and  Sicilians  to  use  the  Justinian  Code,  and  the  Lombards  and  Sar- 
acens to  live  in  accordance  with  their  respective  laws.  Bazancourt,  Histoire 
de  La  Sicilie  sous  la  domination  des  Normands,  Tome  II.,  pp.  78-9. 

1  Geschichte  des  R.  R.,  Theil  I.,  p.  147. 

2  See  Book  II.,  p.  365,  etc.,  for  proofs  of  the  above  statement. 


CHAPTEE  II. 


Secret  Societies  Forbidden  by  Roman  Emperors  —  Guilds  in  Italy 
at  an  Early  Age  —  Papal  Indulgences  to  Building  Corpora- 
tions —  Masters  of  Como  in  the  Seventh  Century. 

HEN"  it  is  considered  with  what  jealous  surveil- 
lance the  rapidly  declining  governments  of  the 
Eastern  and  Western  empires  watched  every 
change  in  internal  polity,  it  can  scarcely  be 
inferred  that  what  was  strictly  forbidden  under  Trajan 
would  be  tolerated  by  the  Byzantine  emperors.  I  refer  to 
the  formation  of  secret  societies,  bound  together  by  mutual 
obligations.1  The  extent  of  this  opposition  by  the  Roman 
empire  to  the  establishing  of  oath-bound  guilds  is  strik- 
ingly exhibited  in  a  letter  from  Trajan  to  Pliny,2  in  which 
the  emperor  interdicted  a  fraternity  of  firemen,  on  the 
ground  that  they  would  hold  meetings  which  might  be 
used  for  political  purposes.  And  the  only  exception  of 
the  Roman  emperors  to  their  uniform  objection  to  such 
organizations,  was  made  in  favor  of  burial  societies,  or 
associations  of  men  who  subscribed  certain  sums  of  money 
to  insure  each  member  a  decent  burial  in  the  ground 
which  was  the  corporation  property.3  Late  in  the  sixth 
century,  societies,  based  simply  upon  nationality,  appear 
to  have  existed  in  Italy.    Savigny  says,4  at  Ravenna,  in  the 

1  Lecky,  Hist.  European  Morals  from  Augustus  to  Charlemagne,  Vol.  I.,  p.  438. 

2  Quodcunque  noraen  ex  quacunque  causa  dederimus  iis,  qui  in  idem  con- 
tracti  fuerint,  hetceriai,  quamvis  breves  fient.    Plinii,  Episl.,  Lib.  X.,  cap.  xliii. 

3  "  The  Roman  legislators,  however  unfavorable  to  the  formation  of  guilds 
or  associations,  made  an  exception  in  the  favor  of  burial  societies,"  etc. 
Lecky,  History  of  Morals,  etc-,  Vol.  I.,  p.  482. 

*  In  Rom  die  Germanischen  Fremden  als  besondere  Corporationen  er- 

32 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


33 


year  572,  a  guild  of  Greeks  was  already  organized,  and 
at  Rome,  in  794,  there  existed  a  corporation  of  Angles 
(English),  who  were  supported  with  royal  munificence  by 
King  Offa.  It  would  seem  that  these  guilds  were  not 
always  confined  to  regularly  domiciled  citizens,  but  were 
sometimes  composed  of  strangers  and  travellers.1  In  the 
tenth  century  there  was  an  association  of  Saxons  in  Rome, 
who  lived  in  a  particular  quarter  of  the  city  set  off  to 
them.  The  Tabelliones,  or  notaries,  in  the  seventh  century, 
at  Ravenna,  and  probably  in  other  cities,  had  their  own 
guild,  with  a  regular  corporate  government ; 2  and  as  late 
as  the  year  1200  the  official  oath  prescribed  them  on  their 
admission  was  still  preserved.3  There  is  a  tradition,  which 
Stieglitz  has  substantially  given  in  his  valuable  treatise  on 
Architecture,4  that  at  the  time  the  Lombards  were  in  pos- 
session of  Northern  Italy,  from  the  sixth  to  the  seventh  cen- 
tury, the  Byzantine  builders  formed  themselves  into  guilds 
and  associations,  and  that  on  account  of  having  received 
from  the  popes  the  privilege  of  living  according  to  their  own 
laws  and  ordinances,5  they  were  called  Freemasons.  Of 
this  latter  assumption,  nothing  of  a  reliable  nature  remains 
to  prove  its  authenticity.  So  far  as  the  first  actual  con- 
tact of  these  guilds  with  the  Eastern  artisans  is  concerned, 
I  am  disposed  to  place  it  at  a  time  coeval  with  the  return 
of  the  Byzantine  craftsmen  to  Italy,  under  ^the  patronage 

schienen;  ganz  eben  so  aber  auch  die  Griechen,  diese  letze  jedoch  auch  sclion 
im  Yahr  572  in  Ravenna.    Geschichte  des  Romischen  Rechts,  Theil  I.,  p.  340. 

1  Optimates  et  senatus  cunctaque  militia  ....  simul  etiam  et  cunctae 
Scholse  (guilds)  peregrin orum,  videlicet  Francorum,  Frisonura,  Saxonum 
atque  Langobardorum.  Annates  Fuldenses,  anno  895,  cited  by  Savigny,  Ibid., 
p.  341.  Cibrario,  Frammenti  Storici,  p.  212,  says  that  towards  the  close  of  the 
ninth  century  there  existed  sworn  associations  for  mutual  protection  in  Italy : 
guire  o  gilde  armate  a  difendersi.  Perhaps  at  this  period  there  were  many 
oath-bound  organizations. 

2  Savigny,  Geschichte  d.  R.  R.,  Theil  I.,  p.  350.  8  Ibid.,  op.  cit,  p.  365. 
4  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  425. 

6  Hope,  On  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  229;  Archceologia,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  120. 

C 


34 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


of  Theoderich,  as  early  as  the  fifth  century.1  As  hereto- 
fore stated,  these  corporations  preserved  a  separate  nation- 
ality wheresoever  dispersed,  and  rigidly  adhered  to  their 
own  laws  and  regulations,  such  as  they  brought  with  them, 
as  individual  citizens  of  the  Eastern  empire. 

We  have  endeavored  to  show  that  the  right  to  profess  the 
law  of  his  land  was  the  indisputable  patrimony  of  a 
denizen  residing  abroad.  In  this  manner  these  builders, 
who  were  Oriental  subjects  and  from  Byzantium,  were 
freed  from  and  independent  of  the  laws  and  ordinances 
which  affected  the  native  Lombards  or  the  half-civilized 
Goth.  The  popes,  besides,  at  this  period  had  not  the 
unlimited  power  which  they  subsequently  acquired,  in 
order  to  render  such  a  system  effective. 

In  addition  to  this,  as  Stieglitz  justly  observes,2  no  bull 
exists  which  can  at  all  satisfy  the  most  credulous  mind ; 
for  the  library  of  the  Vatican,  in  the  year  1773,  by  order 
of  the  Pope,  at  the  request  of  Goveneur  Pownall,  was 
subjected  to  the  most  vigilant  search,  and  although  the 
archives  were  thoroughly  examined  by  the  chief  librarian, 
nothing  of  the  kind  could  be  found.3  It  is  scarcely  credi- 
ble, as  before  suggested,  that  these  organizations,  whose 
members  were  bound  together  by  solemn  oaths,  and  sworn 
to  keep  sacred  certain  mystic  secrets,  could  preserve  their 
integrity  as  a  body.  ~No  doubt  such  oaths  were  shortly 
introduced,  when  the  conditions  of  social  polity  de- 
manded it.    But  at  the  time  the  Byzantine  corporators 

1  For  fuller  details  touching  upon  the  merging  of  these  Byzantine  corpora- 
tions into  the  Germanic  guilds,  at  or  about  the  epoch  above  noted,  see  Part  II. 
of  this  work,  p.  374,  etc.  2  Geschichie  der  Baukunst,  p.  426. 

3  Archozologia,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  123.  The  learned  antiquarian,  Ashmole,  is  ac- 
credited with  having  inaugurated  the  papal  indulgence  theory,  which  is  given 
by  many  Masonic  writers  without  judicious  criticism,  particularly  Krause. 
Kunsturkunden,  Theil  II.,  ab.  2,  p.  282,  and  Preston,  Illustrations  of  Masonry, 
p.  133.  I  have  examined  the  works  of  Ashmole,  but  failed  to  find  proof  of 
the  above  assumption. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


35 


arrived  in  the  West,  and  for  long  after  the  process  of 
assimilation  with  the  Teutonic  guilds  had  begun,  the  pre- 
caution of  a  sworn  brotherhood  was  not  essential  to  the 
preservation  of  their  art,  nor  necessary  to  protect  them 
from  competitors.  Throughout  Western  Europe  the  minds 
of  men  were  vastly  unsettled  by  the  threatening  omens 
presaging  a  dissolution  of  civil  society.  Outside  of  Italy, 
perhaps,  the  whole  of  Europe  was  dependent  upon  Eastern 
workmen  for  the  limited  degree  of  architectural  refine- 
ment which  met  the  wants  of  the  Latin  empire.  There 
were  no  competitive  artists,  no  native  craftsmen,  either  in 
architecture  or  the  plastic  arts,  to  require  an  oath-bound 
society  in  order  to  constitute  a  closely  organized  trades' 
union  ;  neither  had  that  singular  individualizing  tendency, 
which  subsequently  permeated  the  entire  civil  society  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  so  far  developed  as  to  impel  the  members 
of  these  corporations  into  a  closer  relationship.  The 
details  of  art  received  from  the  Grecian  builders  were 
also  possessed  by  many  monastic  institutions  in  Northern 
Italy,  as  the  expression  Magistri  Comacini 1  may  refer  to 
monkish  masters,  who  had  no  doubt  gladly  acquired  from 
foreign  artists  a  knowledge  of  mechanical  science.  Per- 
haps the  most  satisfactory  interpretation  of  Magistri 
Comacini,  is  that  upon  some  portion  of  the  sloping  shores 
of  Lake  Como  the  Eastern  corporations  had  already 
merged  with  the  Longobardic  guilds,  and  by  superior 
excellence  in  architectural  acquirements  had  obtained  the 
above  appellation.2  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that 
a  vast  amount  of  architectural  skill  and  knowledge  of 
plastic  arts  was  carried  over  into  Europe  about  the 
opening  of  the  ninth  century,  by  monk  artificers  from 

1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  416.  For  the  original  authority  for 
this  citation,  see  Leges  Langob.  Lex,  144-5,  or  Leg.  Rotharis,  ibid,  in  Tome  I., 
Pars.  2,  Script.  Rev.  Ital.  Tiraboschi,  Storia  delta  Letteratura  Italiana,  Tomo 
III.,  p.  148,  calls  them  simply  Muratori,  or  Masons. 

2  This  view  is  supported  by  Tiraboschi,  op.  cit.  ut  supra. 


36 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


the  Byzantine  empire.  That  the  builders'  guilds  or  cor- 
porations were  brought  frequently  into  a  close  contact 
with  the  Western  monks  thus  early  in  the  construction  of 
houses  of  religious  worship,  or  making  extensive  repairs, 
is  incontestable.  It  is  fairly  deducible,  from  the  subse- 
quent development  of  these  artist  corporations  into  the 
skilled  medieval  Freemasons,  that  these  bodies  were  more 
or  less  intimately  united  with  the  monastic  institutions 
of  the  early  and  Middle  Ages :  and  as  the  erection  of 
sacred  edifices  was  exclusively  under  the  direction  of  the 
church,  necessarily  the  architects  were  also  under  sacer- 
dotal control.  The  monks  or  clerics,  therefore,  at  an 
early  age,  might  be  instructed,  or  rather  initiated  in  the 
sublime  details  of  a  strict  science,  and  become  a  component 
part  of  such  bodies.1 

Whether  the  tradition2  of  the  craft  be  true  or  other- 
wise, that  papal  indulgences  called  into  existence  in 
Lombardy  these  building  associations,  whose  members 
travelled  through  Europe  as  builders,  the  legend  will 
attest  the  long  prevailing  belief  that,  at  that  remote 
period,  the  art  interests  of  those  artificers  and  the  church 
were  identical,  and  as  such  they  continued  for  many  cen- 
turies.3 And  the  symbolic  reference  still  in  use  in  lodges 
of  Freemasons  cannot  be  explained  on  other  reasoning 
than  that  these  artists  united  with  the  Germanic  guilds, 
under  ecclesiastical  patronage,  at  that  era,  or  subsequent 
thereto;  because  the  well-defined  Gothic  or  Teutonic 
elements,  still  in  existence  in  lodge  ritual,  were,  as  we 
shall  hereafter  see,  derived  directly  from  such  a  condition 
of  social  life  as  presented  itself  in  the  north  of  Italy. 

1  Vide  Hope,  On  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  233;  also,  Krause,  Kunsturkunden, 
Th.  I.,  ab.  2,  p.  327  ;  also,  Ducange,  Gloss.  Med.  et  Infimi  Lot.,  sub  voce  Magister. 
i  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  425. 

3  Wilda,  Das  Gildenwesen  im  Mittelalter,  p.  34,  has  clearly  demonstrated  the 
fact  that  in  the  development  of  ancient  guilds,  the  clergy  were  essentially  the 
leaders,  and  that  such  associations  at  a  very  early  age  became  a  constituent 
element  in  the  conventual  system. 


CHAPTER  III. 


Architecture  and  other  Arts  Patronized  by  Charlemagne  — 
Establishes  Educational  Institutions  in  his  Empire  —  Icono- 
clastic War  under  Leo,  the  Isaurian,  in  the  Seventh  Century 
—  Greek  Artists  Flee  to  Europe  and  receive  Pontifical  Pro- 
tection—  Image  Worship  Maintained  by  Charlemagne  — 
Byzantine  Art  Corporations  Invited  to  Italy  —  Scholastic 
Culture  and  the  Seven  Liberal  Arts  and  Sciences  —  Mechan- 
ical Trades  in  Mon  asteries  —  Saint  Eloi  and  the  Craftsmen  — 
Mosaic  Work  —  Apprentices  and  Masters. 


N  the  year  774,  the  Lombard  kingdom  in  Italy  was 
extinguished  by  the  irresistible  power  of  Charles 
the  Great,1  and  the  territory  over  which  their  sway 
had  extended  for  over  two  centuries  became,  in 


consequence,  subjected  to  the  rule  of  the  victorious  Franks.2 
Shortly  after  the  extinction  of  the  Lombardic  power,  Char- 
lemagne devoted  the  most  assiduous  attention  to  a  complete 
organization  of  the  Christian  church  within  his  empire,  in 
order  to  effect  a  radical  extermination  of  the  heathen  relig- 
ion, which  the  unexampled  resistance  of  the  Saxons  for  the 
preservation  of  their  ancient  customs  proves  to  have  had  a 
vigorous  existence.3  For  this  purpose,  he  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  a  strict  subordination  among  the  clergy,  and  pro- 
moted the  establishment  of  numerous  monasteries  and 
abbeys.  In  the  pursuance  of  his  plans  to  subjugate  the 
martial  spirit  of  his  ecclesiastics,  he  rigidly  interdicted 


4 


1  Wirth,  Geschichte  der  Deulschen,  Theil  I.,  p.  485. 

2  Machiavelli,  Istorie  Florentine,  Tomo  L,  p.  232. 

3  Wirth,  Geschichte  der  Deutachen,  Theil  L,  p.  525. 


37 


38 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


them  the  exciting  pursuits  of  war  or  the  chase.  The  em- 
peror contributed,  by  his  own  personal  example,  very 
largely  to  the  internal  development  of  the  empire.  Al- 
though in  early  life  his  literary  accomplishments  were  of 
the  most  slender  character,  yet  at  a  later  period  he  acquired 
the  Latin  tongue  so  thoroughly  as  to  speak  it  fluently. 
He  had  also  learned  to  read  Greek  with  ease.1  In  addition 
to  his  other  attainments,  he  cultivated  agricultural  science 
and  astronomy.  The  few  monasteries  which  existed  pre- 
vious to  the  time  of  the  Carlovingians,  were  places  of  the 
grossest  ignorance.2 

It  was  the  great  merit  of  the  Emperor  Charlemagne,  that 
regularly  organized  schools,  both  of  fine  arts  and  sciences, 
were  established  in  the  cloisters,  over  which  the  most  pro- 
ficient abbots  and  monks  were  called  to  preside.  A  model 
cloister  school  was  first  founded  in  his  empire,  under  the 
direction  of  a  certain  monk,  named  Hrabanus  Maurus,  at 
Fulda,  in  the  year  804,  and  upon  this  the  emperor  bestowed 
the  utmost  attention.  This  educational  institution  was 
soon,  imitated  by  the  convents  of  Saint  Gall,  Hirschau, 
Eeichenau,  Weiszenburg,  Corvey,  and  others.3  The  atten- 
tion given  by  Charlemagne  to  the  development  of  agricul- 
ture, was  imitated  by  the  ecclesiastics,  who,  with  axe  and 
saw,  boldly  attacked  the  gloomy  forests,  and  opened  up  to 
cultivation  vast  areas  of  timber  lands.4  Following  in  the 
wake  of  these  improvements,  came  troops  of  builders,  who 
were  attached  to  the  missionaries,  and  under  their  direc- 
tion, and  perhaps  a  component  part  of  such  monastic  insti- 
tutions as  were  to  be  erected,  together  with  other  edifices, 
upon  the  cleared  ground.5  Before  the  time  of  Charlemagne, 
houses  were  mostly  constructed  of  wood,  —  stone  and  tile 
were  rare.    Inside,  such  buildings  contained  one  spacious 

1  Eginhard,  in  Vita  Karl.  Mag.,  cap.  xxv. 

2  Scherr,  Deutsche  Culiur,  p.  70.  3  Scherr,  Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 
*  Scherr,  Ibid.,  p.  72 ;  Wirth,  Geschichte  der  Deutschen,  Theil  I.,  p.  534. 

5  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  233. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


39 


room,  without  partition  walls.  From  the  middle  arose  a 
single  column,  which  furnished  a  support  for  the  roof. 
Under  Charlemagne,  stone  edifices  began  to  be  introduced. 
Not  only  the  celebrated  imperial  palaces  of  the  emperor 
at  Aachen,  Ingelheim,  and  elsewhere,  but  the  residences 
of  the  nobility  also  were  constructed  of  stone.  In  one  of 
the  emperor's  dwellings  there  were  three  sleeping  apart- 
ments, eleven  work  rooms,  and  two  for  storage  of  material.1 
Towards  the  close  of  the  seventh  century,  or  about  the 
commencement  of  the  eighth  ,  two  events  occurred  of  much 
importance  for  the  examination  of  the  subject  under  dis- 
sertation. The  first  of  these,  in  its  relative  effect  upon  the 
translation  of  a  style  of  art  which  subsequently  became 
current  in  the  west  of  Europe,  was  a  decree  promulgated 
by  an  ecclesiastical  council  held  at  Constantinople  in  the 
year  692,  interdicting  the  use  of  allegorical  or  symbolical 
representations  in  the  crucifixion  of  Christ  and  other 
sacred  objects,  and  ordering  a  stricter  adherence  to  histori- 
cal statuary.2  Although  this  decree  was  never  rigidly 
enforced  in  Western  Europe,  it  slightly  modified  an  excess 
which  had  become  ridiculous.3  At  the  time  of  this  decree, 
plastic  and  art  compositions  had  become  a  kind  of  hiero- 
glyphic, of  which,  in  order  to  interpret  correctly,  it  was 
necessary  to  know  the  secret.  For  instance,  the  four 
evangelists  were  represented  by  four  running  streams, 
which  spread  their  revivifying  influences  throughout  the 
universe  ;4  the  converted  gentiles,  symbolically  delineated 

1  Scherr,  Deutsche  Cultur,  p.  74. 

2  Le  decret  du  Concile  de  Constantinople,  appele"  le  Concile  Quinisexte  ou  in 
Trullo  et  celebre  en  692,  qui  ordonna  de  preferer  la  peinture  historique  aux 
emblemes  et  notamment  l'allegorie  dans  la  representation  du  crucifiement 
de  Jesus  Christ.  Emeric  David,  Histoire  de  la  Peinture  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  59. 
The  original  decree,  of  which  David  has  given  in  the  foregoing  citation  the 
substance,  may  be  found  in  Act.  ConciL,  Tome  III.,  Can.  82. 

3  L'usage  de  l'allegorie,  d'abord  necessaire,  ainsi  que  nous  l'avons  dit,  pour 
voiler  les  mysteres  de  la  nouvelle  religion,  avait  totalement  egare  les  esprits. 
David,  Histoire  de  la  Peinture  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  59. 

4  Didron,  Christian  Iconography,  p.  67,  PI.  23. 


40 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


as  thirsting  deer  which  rambled  towards  a  living  fountain, — 
or  as  a  vine  or  a  mountain  ;  the  faithful,  as  trees,  plants,  or 
as  lambs.  The  second  and  most  important  event  referred 
to  above,  was  the  proscription  of  religious  images,  pro- 
nounced by  Leo  the  Isaurian  in  the  year  726.  The  perse- 
cutions suffered  by  the  Greek  artists,  in  consequence  of 
this  edict,  lasted  for  one  hundred  and  twenty  years.1  This 
decree,  which  banished  from  the  Eastern  churches  every 
description  of  statuary  and  painting  without  reserve,  also 
threatened,  with  severest  penalties,  any  artist  who  ventured 
to  prepare  an  image  of  the  saints,  apostles,  or  of  Christ. 
Opposed  to  the  emperor  and  his  armed  legions,  were  the 
monks  and  the  people  of  an  humbler  position.2  In  order 
to  render  the  emperor's  edict  more  effective,  the  church,  in 
the  year  754,  confirmed  his  decree.3 

The  Popes  at  Rome,  profoundly  interested  in  the  result 
of  this  contest,  founded  vast  monasteries  to  receive  the 
monk  artists  who  fled  from  Greece,  and  employed  them 
with  the  utmost  zeal  to  continue  the  exercise  of 
that  style  of  art  proscribed  them  in  their  native  land.4 
Upon  their  arrival  in  Italy  and  in  Southern  Europe, 
they  were  quickly  associated  with  the  corporations  of 
builders,  who  perhaps  at  this  epoch  had  a  permanent 
connection  with  the  monastic  institutions  of  the  West ; 
and  as  a  steady  and  uninterrupted  intercourse  had  been 
maintained  by  their  predecessors  with  Byzantium,  affilia- 
tions into  established  bodies  of  builders  seem  to  have  been 
readily  granted.5  Through  these  artist  refugees,  an  in- 
creased knowledge  of  architectural  and  other  arts  was  fur- 
nished their  western  confreres. 

1  David,  Histoire  de  la  Peinture  au  Moyen  Age,  loc-  cit. 

2  Ihm  gegenuber  waren  de  Monche  und  das  niedere  Volk.  Gorling,  Ge- 
schichte  der  Mahlerei,  Theil  I.,  p.  89.  The  artisans,  no  doubt,  were  largely 
recruited  from  this  class  of  persons. 

3  Gorling,  Ibid,,  loc.  cit. 

*  Emeric  David,  Histoire  de  la  Peinture  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  65. 
6  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  233. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


41 


The  glorious  reign  of  Charlemagne  was  not  less  useful 
to  the  maintenance  of  art  and  science.  As  we  have  already 
seen,  in  the  midst  of  the  barbarism  of  many  of  his  subjects, 
he  conceived  the  design  of  regenerating  architectural 
art,  the  sciences,  painting,  and  even  music.1  Whether 
Charles  the  Great  was  in  a  measure  influenced  to  protect 
the  arts  in  his  empire  on  account  of  his  connection  with 
the  Latin  church,  does  not  clearly  appear ;  but  the  canons 
of  the  Council  of  Nice,  urging  the  worship  of  images,  were 
submitted  by  him  to  a  council  of  bishops  at  Frankfort,  and 
by  his  authority  reenacted.  In  order  that  the  character- 
istics of  religious  culture,  such  as  were  used  up  to  the 
time  of  Leo  the  Iconoclast,  might  be  perpetuated  through- 
out the  Western  empire,  he  issued  an  edict  that  all  the 
churches  in  his  kingdom  should  be  decorated  with  suit- 
able imagery  and  statuary.2  For  this  purpose  envoys  were 
despatched  several  times  a  year  through  the  provinces  to 
see  that  the  emperor's  orders  were  duly  obeyed.3  It  seems 
to  have  been  the  policy  of  Charlemagne,  so  far  as  possible, 
to  efface  from  the  memory  of  his  Saxon  subjects,  by  means 
of  an  elaborate  ornamentation  of  sacred  structures,  the 
attractions  of  their  ancient  altars.4  The  immense  number 
of  edifices  which  were  erected  and  thus  embellished  under 
the  fostering  care  of  the  emperor  of  the  Franks,  proves  how 
rapidly  his  active  spirit  had  organized  the  forces  at  his 
command  for  the  work  of  architectural  and  plastic  regen- 
eration. The  better  to  forward  his  schemes  of  material  ad- 
vancement, Byzantine  workmen  and  other  skilled  builders 
were  invited  from  Italy,  and  perhaps  from  Greece,  to  assist 

1  Au  sein  de  la  barbarie  ou  se  plaisaient  ses  vassaux,  ce  grand  homme  concut 
la  pensee  de  regenerer  a  la  fois  les  sciences,  les  lettres,  Farchitecture,  etc. 
David,  Histoire  de  la  Peiniure,  p.  66. 

2  Gorling,  Geschichte  der  Mahlerei,  Theil  I.,  p.  200. 

3  Volumus  itaque  ut  missi  nostri  per  singulos  pagos  praevideri  studeant. 
Carlo.  Mag.,  De  Imag.,  L.  HI.,  cap.  cxvi. 

*  Ut  honorem  habeant  majorem  et  exccllentiorem  quam  fana  idolorum.  Cap- 
ilai.  de  part  Sax,  an  789,  c,  1 ;  also,  see  Gorling,  op.  ciL,  p.  201. 
4* 


42 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


in  and  direct  the  construction  of  temples  and  other  reli- 
gious buildings.1  By  this  introduction  of  Byzantine  artists 
into  Germany,  a  great  element  was  contributed  to  the  Ger- 
mans for  the  acquisition  of  architectural  art,  and  awakened 
in  them  capacities  which  subsequently  developed  to  the 
highest  attainments.2  A  new  emulation  animated  the  im- 
perial prelates,  and  the  zeal  for  constructing  and  repairing 
churches  was  intensified  under  the  strict  orders  of  the 
emperor.3 

The  principal  causes  of  the  astounding  rapidity  with 
which  the  seeds  of  art -culture  in  Germany  were  scattered 
so  widely,  is,  I  think,  assignable  to  two  things,  —  the  first 
of  which  was  the  introduction  of  corporations  of  Greek  and 
Gothic  artists  into  the  Latin  empire,  and  their  fusion  with 
the  Longobardic  guilds  ;  because,  as  before  observed,  these 
associations  preserved  their  existence  down  to  the  tenth 
century  at  least.4  The  second  of  these,  and  not  the  least 
insignificant,  was  the  thorough  organization  which  the 
Carlovingian  emperor  effected  in  the  cloisters,  and  by  the 
establishment  of  schools  of  art  and  sciences  in  the  varied 
monastic  institutions  of  the  empire.  We  have  briefly 
adverted  to  the  royal  encouragement  of  learning  and  the 
sterner  sciences  taught  in  these  cloistered  schools.  Scho- 
lastic culture  of  that  era  was  divided  into  seven  liberal  arts 
and  sciences,  consisting  of  the  famous  Triuium,  viz.,  gram- 
mar, rhetoric,  and  logic,  and  the  Quadrium,  which  included 
arithmetic,  music,  geometry,  and  astronomy.  These  col- 
lectively constituted  the  basis  of  a  finished  education  dur- 
ing the  Middle  Ages,  and  still  survive  to  the  Freemasons. 
Cassiodorus,5  the  eminent  Grecian  philosophical  writer  of 
the  time  of  Theoderich  the  Goth,  was  the  author  of  these 

1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  471  ;  Scherr,  Deutsche  Cultur,  p.  68. 

2  Stieglitz,  Ibid.,  p.  470. 

3  Emeric  David,  Histoire  de  la  Peinture  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  70. 

4  Mueller,  Archceologie  der  Kunst,  p.  226. 

3  Tiraboschi,  Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana,  Tomo  III.,  p.  11. 


ANTIQ  UITIES  OF  FREE  MA  S  ONE  Y. 


43 


divisions.  They  seem  to  have  been  brought  from  Italy  at 
a  very  early  date,  as  Charlemagne,  among  his  other  accom- 
plishments, according  to  Eginhard,1  was  proficient  in 
grammar,  rhetoric,  and  logic.  This  monarch  appears  to  have 
been  deeply  interested  in  the  seven  liberal  arts  and  sciences, 
since  he  caused  them  to  be  suitably  painted  in  fresco  on  a 
wall.2  The  system  of  tuition  in  a  monastery  was  under 
the  direction  of  an  abbot ;  he  was  the  master,  and  the 
monks  the  pupils,3  who  cultivated  the  sciences,  letters,  and 
art.  Each  abbey  had  judicial  powers,  and  administered 
justice  to  its  dependents.4  It  also  had  an  extensive  farm 
attached,  and  possessed  a  manufactory  and  school.5  Con- 
vents and  monasteries,  therefore,  became  a  species  of  fort- 
ress where  civilization,  under  the  protection  of  some 
sainted  martyr,  pursued  its  quiet  way.  Astronomy,  arith- 
metic, geometry,  civil  law,  physics  and  medicine,  the 
study  of  profane  authors,  were  sheltered  within  these 
walls  as  within  a  sanctuary.  It  was  particularly  there 
that  architecture  and  its  kindred  arts  were  cultivated,6 
and  bishops  frequently  presided  as  masters  over  the  execu- 
tion of  plans,7  submitted  to  these  prelates  by  builders,  per- 

1  In  vita  Karoli  Mag.,  cap.  xxv.  In  discenda  Grammatica  Petrum  Pisanira 
audivit,  in  caeteris  disciplinis  Albinum,  apnd  quem  et  rhetoricae  et  dialectae. 
One  of  the  most  important  labors  of  this  justly  celebrated  monarch  has  been 
lost  to  the  world,  viz.,  a  collection  of  German  songs  and  heroic  poems,  which 
were  still  recited  and  sung  in  his  day.  Although  numerous  searches  have 
been  made  for  them,  they  yet  remain  undiscovered. 

2  Gorling,  Geschichte  der  Mahlerei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  202. 

3  Le  pere  abbe  etoit  le  niaitre ;  les  moines,  comme  les  affranchis  de  ce 
maitre,  cultivoient  les  sciences,  les  lettres  et  les  arts.  Chateaubriand,  Etudes 
Historiquts,  Tome  III.,  pp.  319,  320.  See  further  on  this  subject,  Fosbroke's 
Bi^itish  Monachism,  p.  183. 

4  Chateaubriand,  ut  supra,  he.  cit. 

5  Fosbroke,  British  MonacMsm,  p.  262. 

6  Fosbroke,  Ibid.,  p.  183. 

7  Die  Bischofe  standen  als  Meister,  dem  Baue  der  Kirchen  und  Kloster  vor, 
und  sie  stellten,  zur  ausfuhrung,  ihre  Untergebenen  an.  Stieglitz,  Geschichte 
der  Baukunst,  p.  473. 


I 


44  THE  EARL  Y  HISTOR  T  AND 

haps  Byzantine,  for  approval,  or  worked  out  under  episco- 
pal instruction.  Whatever  details  of  art  the  foreign  artists 
possessed  were  rapidly  acquired  by  the  monks,  who,  with 
these,  also  received  and  perpetuated  the  strange  symbol- 
ism in  mediaeval  architecture1  which  we  have  already  seen 
to  have  existed  in  the  Greek  church. 

It  would  seem  that,  as  early  as  the  eighth  century,  a 
regularly  subordinated  organization  of  masters  and  pupils 
was  established  in  the  cloisters  of  Germany,2  rendered 
essential  by  the  patronage  of  Charlemagne  of  the  fine  arts 
and  sciences,  which  were  assiduously  cultivated,  under  the 
direction  of  masters  thoroughly  imbued  with  lofty  senti- 
ment, in  order  to  add  to  the  attractions  of  religious  wor- 
ship.3 History  has  handed  down  from  that  remote  age 
(the  seventh  century)  the  name  of  Saint  Eloi,  who  was  a 
goldsmith  previous  to  his  investiture  with  episcopal  robes. 
Among  the  numerous  abbeys  entrusted  to  the  care  of  this 
ecclesiastic,  a  selection  was  made  of  such  monks  as  dis- 
played an  aptitude  for  mechanical  skill.4  At  this  period 
(the  eighth  century)  many  Greek  monks,  and  especially 
the  artists  who  had  lied  the  persecutions  resulting  from 
the  edict  against  image-worship,  were  evidently  employed 
as  principal  workmen,  in  conjunction  with  their  ecclesias- 
tical brethren,  on  the  Western  churches.  In  many  of  the 
edifices  of  that  age,  Greek  inscriptions  on  the  cathedral 
walls  sufficiently  attest  this.  Moreover,  numerous  struc- 
tures of  a  somewhat  later  date  are  described  as  having  been 
constructed  more  Grcecum,  and  ad  consaetudinem  GrcBcorum. 
A  chapel  at  Paderborn,  repaired  in  the  tenth  century,  is  de- 
clared to  have  been  originally  erected  by  one  of  the  Carlo- 

1  Luebke,  Studium  der  kirchlichen  Kunst,  p.  27. 

2  Lacroix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  160. 

3  Lacroix,  Ibid.,  p.  28. 

*  Dans  le  septieme  siecle  Saint  Eloi  qui  fut  un  orf&vre  renomme  avant  de 
devenir  eveque,  recrute  parrai  les  Moines  des  divers  convents,  sonmis  a  son 
autorite  canonique,  tous  ceux  qu'il  croit  aptes  a  ces  travaux  d'art.  Ibid.,  loc.  tit. 


A  NTIQ  UITIES  OF  FREEMA  S  ONE  Y. 


45 


vingian  dynasty,  by  Greek  operatives — per  Grcecos  opera- 
rios.1  When  at  their  labors,  these  artists  were  under  the 
control  of  an  abbot  or  bishop,  and  by  him  supported  and 
paid.2  The  details  of  Byzantine  architecture  and  plastic 
art  must  necessarily  have  been  derived  from  the  earlier 
Greek  artisans  and  their  su3cessors,  or  from  the  Oriental 
monks  who  settled  in  the  Latin  empire  about  the  year 
774.  Through  these  channels  all  useful  rules  and  techni- 
calities of  art  in  possession  of  the  East  were  gradually 
transmitted  to  the  monastic  artificers,  and  by  them  in  turn 
abandoned  to  the  lay  corporations  of  the  mediaeval  Free- 
masons. The  determined  energy  of  Charles  the  Great,  who 
had  created  schools  of  architecture  in  the  various  cloisters 
of  the  empire,  caused  the  monasteries  to  become  nurseries 
for  the  development  of  mechanical  science.  Such  corpora- 
tions of  builders  as  were  identified  with  and  under  the 
control  of  the  abbeys,  readily  furnished  a  source  whence 
an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  art  were  de- 
rived, and,  in  consequence,  as  rapidly  as  the  monkish 
artists  learned  the  rules  and  details  of  art,  they  communi- 
cated them  in  turn  to  other  monks,  who  constituted  the 
pupils  in  monastic  schools.  In  the  absence  of  reliable  data, 
we  may  safely  infer,  I  think,  that  some  of  the  more  im- 
portant art-knowledge  which  these  Byzantine  craftsmen 
taught  the  monks  consisted  of  the  perpendicular  principle 
in  architecture,  the  means  by  which  material  should  be 
prepared  for  buildings,  a  practical  acquaintance  with  geo- 
metrical science,  and,  what  for  our  purpose  is  more  inter- 
esting, that  style  of  art  which,  although  far  advanced  in 
the  Eastern  church,  attained  its  full  perfection  in  the 
hands  of  European  builders.  I  refer  to  the  incorporating 
of  symbolic  or  allegorical  details  in  the  construction  of 
Middle  Age  edifices. 

1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  pp.  478-9. 

2  Berington,  Literary  History  of  the  Middle  Ages,  pp.  324-5. 


46 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


Schools  of  architecture  originally  worked  in  monasteries 
in  rooms  set  apart  for  labor  ;  and  that  such  apartments 
actually  existed,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the 
great  Carlovingian  emperor  built  several  of  them  in  his 
private  residence.1  These  schools  were  subjected  to  the  same 
general  regulations  which  governed  various  mechanical 
trades  in  the  cloisters.  .Lacroix2  asserts,  on  a  chronicle  of 
the  time  of  Dagobert,  that  Saint  Eloi  organized  the  jewel- 
lers, whom  he  had  selected  from  different  monasteries,  into 
a  society  comprising  three  degrees  of  laborers  —  masters, 
fellows,  and  apprentices.  This  celebrated  bishop  was  prime 
minister  of  the  king,  and  notwithstanding  the  distin- 
guished preferment  accorded  him  by  royal  favor,  he  con- 
tinued none  the  less  uninterruptedly  to  prosecute  his  trade 
at  the  forge.  He  manufactured  for  his  regal  patron  a  large 
number  of  golden  vases,  elegantly  mounted  with  precious 
stones.  He  labored  incessantly,  having  at  his  side  Thil- 
lon,  of  Saxon  origin,  who  followed  the  instructions  of  his 
master.3  When  Thillon,  or  Thean,  the  apprentice,  had 
served  a  suitable  time  and  acquired  sufficient  skill  to  be 
advanced  to  the  degree  of  master  in  the  trade  of  goldsmith, 
he  was  inducted  into  the  control  of  Salignac  abbey.  This 
convent  for  several  centuries  preserved  the  traditions  of 
its  founder,  Saint  Eloi,  and  subsequently  furnished  many 
skilled  workmen  to  numerous  monastic  workshops.4 

1  Vide,  supra,  p.  39. 

2  Eloi,  travaillait  sans  se  lasser,  6tant  assis  et  ayant  a  ses  cot6s  son  serviteur 
Thillon,  d'origine  saxonne,  qui  suivait  les  lecons  de  son  maitre.  Deja  l'orfevrerie 
&ait  organise  en  corps  d'etat  et  elle  devait  com  prendre  trois  degres  d' arti- 
sans :  les  maitres,  les  compagnons  et  les  apprentis.  Lacroix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen 
Age,  pp.  160-1. 

3  Lacroix,  Ibid.,  p.  160. 

4  Lacroix,  Ibid.,  pp.  162-3.  Perhaps  this  division  of  laborers  into  grades 
or  degrees  may  have  been  suggested  by  the  internal  organization  existing 
among  the  Byzantine  builders. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Advance  of  Art  in  the  Monasteries  —  Clerical  Architects — 
Skilled  Painters  and  Sculptors  in  Convents  —  Pupils  Or- 
ganized into  Grades  or  Degrees  —  Modification  of  Architec- 
tural Style  in  the  Tenth  Century  —  Continuation  of  Gre- 
cian Influence  —  Tendency  to  Symbolism  —  Progress  in  Art 
Stayed  until  the  Eleventh  Century. 

HIS  system  of  dividing  pupils  into  the  three 
degrees  alluded  to,  materially  assisted  the  spread 
and  rapid  acquisition  of  a  proricienc3r  in  archi- 
tecture. At  this  epoch,  the  monks  of  St.  Gall 
had  become  celebrated  for  their  dexterity  in  the  several 
branches  of  plastic  art.  Among  these,  Tutilon1  was  dis- 
tinguished for  his  knowledge  of  statuary  and  his  skill  in 
sculpturing.  To  render  himself  the  more  thoroughly 
conversant  with  the  technicalities  of  art,  he  travelled 
extensively  into  distant  countries,  and  personally  in- 
spected the  remains  of  ancient  handiwork.  In  some 
localities,  he  left  behind  him  such  specimens  of  his  skill  that 
he  became  widely  celebrated.2  The  architects  of  the  church 
attached  to  the  abbey  of  Pfaltz  were  brethren  of  the 
cloister,  and   subject   to   its  discipline.3  Ecclesiastical 

1  In  St.  Gal]  tritt  (urn  850)  ein  Universalgeist  auf,  der  Monch  Tutilo  ein 
Mann  von  riesenhafter  Starke,  der  sich  als  Baumeister,  Toreut,  u.  s.  w.,  gleich- 
miissig  auszeichnete.    Gorling,  Geschichte  der  Mahlerei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  205. 

2  Multas  propter  artificia  simul  et  doctrines  peragraverat  terras,  etc.  Eck- 
erliard,  Decan.  S.  Gall.,  c.  xxii. ;  also,  Eraeric  David,  Histoire  de  la  Peinture, 
p.  79. 

3  Les  architectes  etiient  des  moines  de  l'abbaye  meuie,  les  peintres  des  moines 

47 


48 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


artists  of  Reichenau  decorated  the  new  abbey  of  Saint  Gall 
with  appropriate  embellishments  about  the  year  850. 1 

Under  the  superintendence  of  monastic  masters,  the 
arts  and  sciences,  during  the  Middle  Ages,  were  cultivated 
and  developed  within  the  walls  of  cloisters  ;  there  it  was 
that  practical  knowledge  was  preserved,  which,  consider- 
ing the  lamentable  ignorance  pervading  the  nations  of 
Europe,  could  receive  no  encouragement  from  the  laity. 
From  these  religious  institutions,  therefore,  as  a  central 
point,  diverged  the  light  of  future  ages.  Wherever 
churches  were  built,  or  other  ecclesiastical  edifices,  it  had 
become  essential  that  the  cloister  brethren  should  be 
called  to  assist  in  furthering  the  work,  and  lend  a  helping 
hand  in  executing  details ;  and  having,  in  all  lands,  but 
one  religious  faith,  they  accordingly  propagated  one  style 
of  architecture,  for  which  they  persistently  labored  in 
unison  ;2  and  since  the  formation  of  the  monastic  schools, 
as  above  related,  the  members  worked  conjointly  in  such 

de  Reichenau.  David,  Ibid.,  p.  78.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  at  this  epoch 
nearly  all  of  the  guilds  of  builders  or  Byzantine  corporations  had  so  far  sub- 
jected themselves  to  church  discipline  as  to  be  under  complete  ecclesiastical 
control.  At  first,  perhaps,  secular  artificers,  from  necessity,  were  received  into 
the  monasteries  or  convents  as  the  most  available  places  for  lodging  during 
the  time  they  were  occupied  in  the  construction  of  buildings,  and  whatever 
details  or  secrets  of  art  were  possessed  by  these  travelling  architects  readily 
passed  into  the  possession  of  the  monks.  At  all  events,  there  is  every  prob- 
ability that  churchmen  of  those  ages  accepted  the  usual  means  of  securing 
such  knowledge  from  the  builders,  by  gradual  advancement  and  strict  sub- 
ordination, which  system  thoroughly  harmonized  with  the  professed  discipline 
of  monastic  institutions.  The  members  of  ecclesiastical  organizations,  as  we 
shall  presently  see,  were  incorporated  with  these  bodies  and  directed  their 
labors  as  master  architects.    See  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  233. 

1  Gorling,  Geschichte  der  Mahlerei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  205. 

2  Wo  Kirchen  und  andere  geistliche  Gebaude  von  nothen,  dahin  wurden 
Klosterbruder  berufen,die  Werke  zu  forderen  und  hulfreiche  Hand  zu  leisten. 
Und  wie  die  Klosterbruder  in  alien  Landen  durch  eine  Religion  fest  vereint 
waren,  so  hatten  sie  auch  nur  eine  Kunst,  u.  s.  w.  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der 
Baukunst,  p.  486. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


49 


fraternities,1  and  executed  all  plans  upon  identical  rules 
and  fixed  principles,  this  may  serve  to  explain  the  curious 
fact  that,  except  in  few  instances,  the  name  of  a  single 
master  builder  seldom  appears :  they  all  worked  upon 
enterprises  which  were  simply  an  integral  portion  of  a 
vast  and  universal  whole. 

In  the  tenth  century,  art  schools  had  assumed  the 
appearance  of  a  widely  extended  association,  whose  sole 
purpose,  under  ecclesiastical  direction,  was  the  construction 
and  ornamentation  of  religious  houses.  At  Reichenau, 
on  Lake  Constance,  in  Switzerland,  Hadamor  was  distin- 
guished for  his  artistic  attainments,  and  as  a  proficient 
and  skilled  patron  of  art,  the  Abbot  Witigono,  in  the  time 
of  Otto  III.,  was  unexcelled.  At  Regensburg  existed  a 
celebrated  school  of  art,  where  Archbishop  Thumo  exer- 
cised his  talents  as  an  artist.  Prague  was  the  seat  of  an 
institution  of.  this  character ;  and  one  also  in  the  cloister 
at  Mur,  which  was  especially  prized  on  account  of  the 
skill  of  its  artificers.  Bishop  Sigismund,  of  Halberstadt, 
at  this  period  delineated  on  the  walls  of  Merseburg 
Castle  the  celebrated  paintings  which  represented  Henry 
the  Fowler  in  battle  with  the  Hungarians.2  In  North 
Germany,  at  Hildesheim,  Bernward,  bishop  of  the  diocese, 
was  renowned  for  his  architectural  skill  and  knowledge 
of  plastic  art.  He  constructed  St.  Michel's  church,  and 
furnished  it  with  doors  which  he  cast  from  molten  brass. 
Bishop  Meiswerk  instituted  an  influential  art  school  at 
Paderborn,  and  strove  to  rival  Bernward  in  his  artistic 

1  According  to  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  233,  the  early  refugee 
Greek  architects  were  admitted  into  the  lodges  and  increasing  circles  of  filia- 
tions of  the  Byzantine  builders.  The  gradual  increase  of  art  knowledge, 
communicated  as  above  mentioned  to  the  clergy  by  these  corporations,  ulti- 
mately allowed  the  church  to  have  a  dominant  control  over  and  in  whatever 
direction  these  guilds  of  artificers,  whether  composed  in  part  or  entirely  of 
monastic  or  lay  members,  were  ordered  by  ecclesiastical  authority.  They  con- 
tributed powerfully  both  to  the  mechanical  and  moral  improvement  of  new 
localities.  2  Gorling,  Geschichte  der  Mahlerei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  205. 

5  D 


50 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AXD 


attainments.1  Painting  on  glass,  whose  probable  invention 
Emeric  David2  assigns  to  the  tenth  century,  seems  to 
have  made  rapid  progress  under  the  fostering  care  of  the 
monasteries  ;  and  for  this  purpose  the  Dukes  of  Normandy 
granted  them  important  concessions.  Guilliame,  an  abbe 
at  Dijon,  in  France,  assumed  the  religious  control  of  forty 
cloisters  in  this  century,  and  organized  in  each  a  school 
for  instruction  in  fine  arts ;  and  for  many  years  he  had 
under  bis  tuition  a  numerous  body  of  monks,  who,  in 
turn,  became  masters.3  At  Salerno,  the  Benedictine  monks 
erected  a  church  to  the  Virgin.  Jean,4  chief  of  the  abbey 
at  Farfa,  superintended  a  chapel  which  was  dedicated  to 
St.  Peter.  Towards  the  year  950,  the  illustrious  Notker 
lived  in  the  cloister  of  St.  Gall ;  he  excelled  as  a  painter, 
physician,  and  poet.  Hugues,  of  the  convent  of  Moutier- 
en-Der,  in  the  year  990,  is  described  as  a  painter  and  sculp- 
tor, whose  skill  reproduced  the  church  decorations  of 
Salons-sur-Marnc,  which  time  had  rendered  invisible.  St. 
Dunstan,5  bishop  of  Canterbury,  contemporary  with  these 
ecclesiastics,  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  skilful  manu- 
facturer of  musical  instruments,  and  a  clever  artist. 

1  Hrabanus  Maurus  is  especially  mentioned  by  Gorling,  Geschichte  der  MahU 
erei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  205,  not  only  on  account  of  his  great  skill  in  general  accom- 
plishment, but  also  for  the  remarkable  success  which  he  attained  in  the  use  of 
symbolic  ornamentation. 

2  Histoire  de  la  Peinfure  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  79.  See  note  (3),  same  page,  for  a 
full  and  learned  discussion  of  this  subject. 

3  Abbe  Guillaume,  qui,  pendant  de  longues anne*es,  dirigea  une  foule  d'artistes 
devenus  chefs  d'ecole  a,  leur  tour.  Lacroix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  360. 
This  distinguished  artist  Avas  not  only  the  head  of  a  religious  organization, 
but  also  the  master  of  an  art  school :  et  devint  chef  d'ecole  d'art,  aussi  bien 
que  chef  religieux.    Lacroix,  loc.  cit. 

4  In  a  citation  by  David,  ut  sup.,  pp.  82-3,  from  Aegid.  De  Gest.  Pont  If. 
Leod.,  Tome  VIII.,  p.  597,  etc.,  Abbe  Jean  was  a  native  of  Italy :  Italiae  natu 
pollens,  and  brought  to  Saint  Gall  by  Otho  III. 

5  Emeric  David,  Histoire  de  la  Peinture,  pp.  82-3.  Berington,  Literary  History 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  pp.  199,  242-3,  adverts  to  the  attainments  of  the  last  cleric, 
but  acknowledges  the  general  sterility  of  culture  in  England  at  this  epoch. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


51 


The  disastrous  consequences  which  followed  the  Nor- 
man invasions,  in  a  measure  checked  the  further  advance- 
ment of  art  in  Europe.  From  the  beginning  of  the  ninth 
until  the  commencement  of  the  tenth  century,  with  fre- 
quent intervals,  England  and  France,  and  large  portions  of 
Germany,  were  devastated  by  uncivilized  Northern  in- 
vaders. Abbeys  and  convents,  on  account  of  their  wealth, 
seem  to  have  been  special  objects  of  destruction,1  and,  as 
a  result,  an  almost  total  suspension  of  architectural  labor, 
during  that  time,  naturally  eusued.2  When,  however, 
these  inroads  had  nearly  ceased,  the  disasters  caused  by 
such  invasions  indirectly  served  the  progress  of  archi- 
tecture and  sculpture.  A  new  and  completer  system  of 
constructions,  demanded  by  the  exigencies  of  public  wor- 
ship, and  better  adapted  to  the  rising  elegance  of  church 
service,  immediately  came  in  vogue.3  This  epoch  evinces 
a  decided  tendency  to  depart  from  the  simple  ornamenta- 
tion in  church  architecture  which  had  obtained  from  the 
time  of  Charlemagne ;  and  it  was  at  this  period  that  art 
schools  were  organized  on  the  extensive  scale  to  which  we 
have '  adverted  in  the  case  of  Guilliame,  abbe  of  Saint 
Benique,  at  Dijon,  who  became  the  master  of  such  an  insti- 
tution as  well  as  the  religious  head  of  an  abbey.4 

The  style  of  development  in  architecture  or,  painting, 
which  had  begun  to  exhibit  a  growing  tendency  to  trans- 
formation, received  a  decided 'Bj^antine  impulse  in  Ger- 
many in  the  year  972,  when  Otto  II.  brought  a  spouse,  the 
Grecian  princess  Theophania,  to  share  his  throne.  The 
connection  of  the  German  empire  with  Byzantium,  which 
hitherto  had  been  more  or  less  remote,  was  now  directly 
established.  This  royal  personage,  who  appeared  unto  the 
astonished  vision  of  her  German  subjects  in  all  the  splen- 

1  Depping,  Histoire  des  Expeditions  maritimes  des  Normands,  draws  a  ter- 
rible picture  of  these  barbarous  devastations  in  Germany. 

2  Lacroix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  358. 

3  Lacroix,  I  bid.,  pp.  359-60.  4  Lacroix,  Ibid.,  p.  360. 


> 


V*  THE  EARL  Y  IIISTOE  Y  AND 

dor  of  Oriental  trappings,  was  also  accompanied  by  Greek 
artists.  Notwithstanding  Byzantine  influence  in  art  is 
perceptible  at  this  late  period  in  Germany,  it  does  not 
appear  to  have  entirely  subdued  that  tendency  to  the  tran- 
sitional style  to  which  we  referred  above ;  but  the  inclina- 
tion to  an  increased  symbolism  in  the  elaboration  of  sacred 
edifices  prominently  appears,  and  of  a  kind  *  which  Gor- 
ling1  asserts  to  be  radically  unbyzantine,  and  which  was  es- 
sentially an  outgrowth  of  the  social  necessities  of  Northern 
Europe.  Other  elements,  deducible  from  gradually  devel- 
oped causes  of  action,  —  more  recent  symbolic  allusions  and 
combinations, —  now  strike  the  attention.  A  steady  effort 
for  the  expression  of  new  thought,  elaborated  upon  such 
principles  as  to  bring  out  the  individuality  of  the  artist, 
continually  recurs.  As  this  tendency  to  a  Northern  or 
Gothic  symbolism  in  architectural  and  plastic  art  made  its 
appearance  at  the  close  of  the  tenth  century,  and  coming 
so  closely  upon  the  time  when  the  fraternity  of  builders 
passed  from  the  immediate  control  of  the  monasteries,  it 
is  significant,  and  can  serve  some  purpose  in  pointing  out, 
with  tolerable  accuracy,  the  period  at  which  the  well- 
defined  Teutonic  symbolism,  which  has  descended  to  our 
day,  became  solidly  and  ineradicably  incorporated  with 
the  formal  observances  current  among  the  Middle  Age 
lodges.2 

The  opinion,  that  the  expiration  of  the  one  thousandth 
year  of  the  Christian  era  was  the  time  limited  for  the 

1  Geschichte  der  Mahlerei,  Theil  I.,  p.  207.  Durchans  unbyzantinisch  und 
speciell  dem  Norden  Europas  angehorend  ist  das  allenthalben  sich  vordriin- 
gende  Element  neuer  Bewegungsmotive,  neuer  symbolischen  Bezuge  und 
Combinationen. 

2  The  junction  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  systems,  which  still  exist  in  the 
internal  operations  of  lodge  work,  unquestionably  occurred  in  Northern  Italy 
while  under  Gothic  and  Longobardic  rule;  and,  as  subsequent  contact  with 
European  society  moulded  the  two  elements  conjointly,  a  homogeneous  result, 
as  will  be  seen  in  Part  II.  of  this  book,  was  evolved  by  the  substitution  policy 
of  the  Christian  church. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


53 


duration  of  the  world,  caused  a  temporary  decline  of  art. 
All  Europe  was  preparing  for  this  much-dreaded  event, 
which,  however,  was  to  attest  the  triumph  of  the  religion 
of  Christ.  Further  progress  in  repairing  churches  was 
stayed,  and  many  edifices,  in  anticipation  of  the  millennium, 
were  suffered  to  remain  in  ruins.1  When  this  epoch  passed 
away  without  unusual  incident,  confidence  in  the  unlim- 
ited existence  of  the  universe  gradually  returned,  and 
brought  with  it  a  rapid  revival  of  the  fine  arts  —  a  new 
zeal  animated  princes  and  prelates  ;  they  panted  with  an 
earnest  desire  to  signalize  themselves  by  pious  enterprises.2 
Each  school  of  art  labored  diligently  to  aid  in  accomplish- 
ing this  purpose,  and,  at  this  time,  the  most  remarkable 
monuments  of  Roman  architecture  arose  throughout  Eu- 
rope. 


1  Emeric  David,  Histoire  de  la  Peinture,  p.  107.         2  David,  Ibid.,  p.  108. 
5* 


CHAPTER  V. 


Social  Changes,  in  the  Eleventh  Century  —  Individualizing 
Tendencies  of  the  Middle  Ages  —  Feudal  System  —  Struggle 
for  Personal  Liberty  —  Freemasonry  Preserves  the  Charac- 
teristics of  this  Epoch  —  Communal  or  Guildic  Privileges  As- 
serted —  Rapid  Spread  of  Mechanical  Guilds  or  Societies  — 
First  General  Development  in  Towns  and  Cities  —  Corpora- 
tions of  Tradesmen  and  Immunities  —  Early  Charter  to  Com- 
mune—  Laymen  Acquire  Knowledge  of  Building  Art  from 
Ecclesiastics  —  Lay  Artisans  become  closely  United. 

LTHOUGH  the  Church  still  retained  its  influence, 
and  possessed  unhounded  power  over  the  religious 
belief  of  the  people,  a  gradual  change  in  the 
social  condition  of  European  countries  had  taken 
place,  which,  early  in  the  eleventh  century,  began  to 
assume  a  definite  form.  In  various  portions  of  Europe, 
particularly  in  the  south  of  France,  Northern  Italy,  and  in 
Germany,  the  municipal  regulations,  as  established  under 
the  Roman  empire,  had,  in  a  measure,  retained  their  effec- 
tiveness.1 These  municipalities  seem  to  have  exerted  a 
mighty  and  preponderating  influence  in  adding  to  the 
material  interests  of  those  countries,  and  appear  to  have 
been  centres  around  which  commerce  and  trades  were  first 
developed  into  a  vigorous  activity.  Early  in  the  eleventh 
century,  the  feudal  system  was  firmly  established,  and  the 
possessor  of  a  fief,  large  or  small,  assumed,  within  the 

1  Savigny,  Geschichte  des  Romischen  Rechts,  Theil  L,  cap.  iii.,  may  be  advan- 
tageously consulted  on  this  subject. 

54 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


55 


boundaries  of  his  domain,  all  the  rights  and  prerogatives 
of  a  sovereign  power.  No  external  authority  could  dictate 
laws,  exact  imposts,  collect  taxes,  or  administer  justice  in 
his  territory.  The  proprietorship  alone  carried  with  it  all 
these  powers.1  In  the  Middle  Ages,  the  condition  of 
social  life  was,  in  many  respects,  deplorable  ;  and  although 
the  morale  of  the  people  may  have  been  decidedly  inferior 
to  that  of  our  own  time,  yet,  in  general,  the  individuality 
of  men  was  unlimited,  and  their  will  energetic.  General 
ideas,  which  exercise  a  dominion  over  the  minds  of  man- 
kind, and  control  the  spirit  without  regard  to  time  or 
place,  existed  then  in  a  limited  degree.  Each  individual 
employed  his  energies  for  himself  exclusively,  according 
to  personal  inclination, —  irregularly,  without  doubt,  but 
with  bold  confidence.2  That  central,  supreme,  and  uniform 
power  which  distinguished  the  governments  of  antiquity, 
was  destroyed  by  the  Northern  invaders.  It  is  true,  that 
Charlemagne  attempted  to  reproduce  it,  and,  by  the  ex- 
ercise of  an  audacious  sovereignty,  he  temporarily  suc- 
ceeded ;  after  his  death,  it  dissolved  before  the  native 
Germanic  individuality,  which  reappeared  in  primitive 
vigor.  The  imperial  administration  which  the  Carlovin- 
gian  king  endeavored  to  create,  still  retained  vitality, 
upon  a  narrower  scale,  in  the  separate  and  individual 
governments  of  petty  sovereigns,  who  had  divided  their 
territories  into  smaller  miniature  empires,  in  which,  so  far 
as  political  authority  was  involved,  they  were  absolute.3 

Ecclesiastical  power,  from  the  tenth  century,  struggled, 
and  with  much  success,  to  consummate  the  abdication  of 
the  freedom  of  human  intelligence  and  the  unquestioned 
recognition  of  spiritual  interposition  in  temporal  society.4 

1  Au  XP  sieele,  la  feodalite  une  fois  etablie,  le  possesseur  de  fief  grand  on 
petit,  avait  dans  ses  dominions  tous  les  droits  de  la  souverainte.  Guizot,  His- 
toire  de  la  Civilisation  en  France,  Tome  III.,  p.  262. 

2  Guizot,  Ibid.,  Tome  III.,  p.  232. 

3  Guizot,  Ibid.,  Tome  II.,  pp.  389,  391.  *  Guizot,  Ibid.,  p.  398. 


56 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


The  Church,  in  the  eleventh  century,  passed  to  a  condition 
of  theocratic  and  monastic  government.  This  result  was 
mainly  due  to  the  energy  and  policy  of  Gregory  VII.  Co- 
incident in  point  of  time  with  his  attempt  to  submit  the 
civil  world  to  the  Church  and  the  Church  to  the  papacy, 
for  the  purpose  of  reform  and  progress,  an  effort  of  a  simi- 
lar nature  was  inaugurated  in  the  very  heart  of  the  monas- 
teries. The  necessity  of  a  more  thorough  discipline,  of 
greater  order,  and  a  stricter  morality,  had  for  a  long  time 
been  apparent.  And  while  the  clergy  sought  to  crush  out, 
beneath  the  weight  of  ecclesiastical  censure,  all  independence 
of  mind  ;  while  it  pressed  with  urgency  to  organize  society, 
both  civil  and  clerical,  upon  uniform  and  unvarying  prin- 
ciples, whose  application  contemplated  the  undisputed  au- 
tocracy of  the  Holy  Father  and  the  submissive  compliance 
of  church  and  people ;  and  while  the  monastic  institutions 
were  reformed  in  their  morals,  there  were  bold  and  defiant 
intellects,  such  as  Abelard,  John  Erigena,  and  others,  who 
asserted  the  inherent  right  of  human  reason  to  pass  judg- 
ment upon  ideas.  The  importance  of  this  first  attempt  at 
liberty,  and  to  free  the  mind  from  the  crushing  influence 
at  work  to  trammel  intelligence,  within  the  limits  of  uni- 
form church  discipline,  was  quickly  felt.  The  Bomish 
church  became  alarmed,  and  declared  an  uncompromising 
warfare  at  once  against  the  new  reformers  whose  doctrines 
menaced  the  successful  unifying  of  society.  It  was  the 
eleventh  century  which  witnessed  the  explosion  of  eccle- 
siastical wrath  upon  these  free-thinkers.  Although  nu- 
merous councils  condemned  them,  still  their  principles 
survived.1 


1  Guizot,  Histoire  Ginerale  de  la  Civilisafion  en  Europe,  pp.  184,  187.  The 
agitations  which  actively  fermented  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical  society  at  this 
epoch,  undoubtedly  forced  the  builders,  who,  as  yet,  were  simply  associated,  and 
under  sacerdotal  control,  into  a  closer  organization.  When  these  constructors 
definitely  withdrew  from  direct  clerical  authority,  it  was  essential  that  they 
should  be  united  by  mutual  oa^hs,  in  order  to  strengthen  their  association. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


57 


Another  element  which  entered  largely  into  the  body 
politic  of  medieval  society,  was  a  Teutonic  contribution. 
Although  the  subdivisions  of  territory,  which  were  made 
in  the  organization  of  the  feudal  system,  created  a  dis- 
tinction between  the  nobleman,  who  arrogated  all  the 
powers  of  a  sovereign  prince,  and  the  various  descending 
grades  of  subordinate  officers  down  to  the  humble  vassals, 
still  the  aristocratic  principle  and  the  inequality  which 
accompanied  these  distinctions  had  not  destroyed,  as  be- 
tween the  chief  and  his  companions,  all  ancient  relations 
of  right  and  liberty.  In  the  tenth  century,  the  Germanic 
element  of  modern  society  still  retained  the  doctrine  of 
national  assemblies,  the  right  of  men  to  govern  themselves, 
and  certain  ideas,  certain  sentiments  of  personal  indepen- 
dence, ingrafted  in  the  bosom  of  a  system  entirely  aristo- 
cratic. At  the  close  of  the  tenth  century,  various  combi- 
nations, faint  traditions  of  imperial  authority,  descended 
from  the  disintegration  of  the  Roman  empire ;  the  efforts 
of  the  Church  to  establish  and  perpetuate  a  society,  each 
member  of  which,  whether  lay  or  ecclesiastical,  should  be, 
so  to  speak,  run  in  the  same  mould ;  and  the  individual- 
ism characteristic  of  the  German  nations,  preserving  un- 
altered, through  varying  changes,  clearly-defined  ideas  of 
personal  right  and  liberty1  —  it  is,  we  say,  only  at  the  ter- 
mination of  the  tenth  century,  that  the  fermentation  had 
ceased,  and  that  the  amalgamated  discordant  elements  have 
united  to  form  a  well-regulated,  in  a  word,  modern  society. 
These  great  results,  which  the  vast  erudition  of  M.  Guizot 
has  established,  attest  the  authenticity  of  an  important- 
fact,  which  bears  immediately  upon  the  internal  and  or- 
ganic functions  of  the  fraternity  of  Freemasons.    In  its 

1  Les  elements  fondamentaux,  essentiels  de  la  ^  civilisation  moderne  en  gen- 
eral, et  en  particulier  de  la  civilisation  francaise,  se  reduisent  a  trois :  le  monde 
romain,  le  monde  chretien,  et  le  monde  germanique ;  Pantiquite,  le  chris- 
tianisme  et  la  barbaric  Guizot,  Histoire  de  la  Civilisation  en  France,  Tome  II., 
p.  388. 


58 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


organization,  Freemasonry  presents  the  indisputable  evi- 
dence of  having  existed  at  a  period  when  the  three  prin- 
cipal elements  enumerated  above  were  slowly  amalgamat- 
ing. It  possesses  the  absolutism  of  a  Roman  autocrat  in 
the  person  of  a  Master  clothed  with  the  emblems  of  power ; 
it  has  the  unifying  idea  of  a  single  religious  belief,  which 
is  essentially  a  fundamental  principle,  and  has  always  con- 
stituted an  indispensable  portion  of  Masonic  government. 
Finally,  it  retains  the  Germanic  freedom  and  liberty  of 
action  in  the  varied  nature  of  its  elective  prerogatives. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  component  parts  of  modern 
civilization,  about  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century, 
had  become  fairly  fused,  another  movement,  none  the  less 
significant  in  its  influence,  began  to  assume  formidable 
proportions,  viz.,  the  movement  of  enfranchising  com- 
munes, or  the  authority  of  towns  to  regulate  their  internal 
affairs  without  foreign  interference ;  and  also  tbe  right  of 
freedom  from  many  of  the  numerous  imposts  levied  upon 
tradespeople,  who  composed  almost  exclusively  the  mem- 
bers of  such  corporations.  When  the  feudal  regime  had 
become  settled,  a  new  activity  began  to  evince  itself  in  the 
small  villages,  which  were  either  descended  from  the 
Roman  empire  or  developed  originally  around  the  walls 
of  a  church  or  chateau,  and  a  certain  taste  for  progress 
or  amelioration  displayed  itself.  In  order  to  satisfy  this  in 
a  measure,  commerce  and  industry  reappeared  in  the  towns 
of  the  feudal  domains  —  wealth  and  population  returned 
there  again,  slowly  at  first,  but  they  returned.  Among 
the  circumstances  which  materially  increased  their  num- 
bers, according  to  Guizot,1  was  the  right  of  sanctuary  or 
security  within  ecclesiastical  walls.  Prior  to  the  time  that 
safety  in  a  commune  could  be  afforded  alone  behind  im- 
penetrable butments  and  fortified  stone,  or  by  irresistible 
force,  an  asylum  to  the  refugee,  whether  of  high  or  low 


1  Histoire  Generale  de  la  Civilisation  en  Europe,  p.  199. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


59 


estate,  nobleman  or  serf,  was  assured  beneath  the  buckler 
of  religion.  Extortions  of  the  nobility  from  the  burgesses 
redoubled  during  the  tenth  century.1  Against  these  ex- 
actions the  commons  raised  many  complaints,  which,  how- 
ever, passed  unheeded,  and  made  the  lack  of  security  more 
keenly  felt.  The  merchant  who  peddled  his  wares  into 
the  territory  of  neighboring  princes  was  not  permitted  to 
reenter  his  own  village  without  personal  danger  and 
.heavy  taxes.2  At  the  very  moment  industry  began  to 
thrive,  was  precisely  the  time  when  safety  was  most 
wanted.  During  the  course  of  this  century  the  towns 
gradually  acquired  more  force,  more  wealth,  and  greater 
interests  to  defend.  In  proportion  to  the  increase  of  their 
wealth,  the  exactions  of  the  nobility  were  equally  rapa- 
cious ;  and  although  at  this  period  there  does  not  appear 
to  have  existed  a  regularly  organized  force,  seeking  to 
check  the  grievous  oppressions  of  their  rulers,  still  the 
ever-recurring  spectacle  of  the  individual  will  refusing  to 
submit  presents  itself.3 

Following  in  the  wake  of  the  quiet  and  unobtrusive 
influences  of  time,  almost  unnoticed  in  Germany,  the  same 
tendency  to  an  emancipation  from  the  control  of  aris- 
tocratic noblemen  manifests  itself.  As  late  as  the  year 
1073,  but  little  freedom  existed  in  the  rural  districts ; 4 
everywhere  appeared  the  same  squalid  tillers  of  the  soil, 
who  passed,  with  the  grant  of  the  freehold,  as  so  much 
cattle,  while  others  dragged  out  a  miserable  livelihood. 
Things  were  on  a  more  favorable  basis  in  the  towns, 

1  Guizot,  Histoire  Generate  de  la  Civilisation  en  Europe,  p.  201. 

2  Les  marchands,  apres  avoir  fait  leur  tournee,  ne  pouvaient  rentrer  en  paix 
dans  leur  ville ;  les  routes,  les  avenues  etaient  sans  cesse  assiegees  par  le  seign- 
eur et  ses  hommes.    Guizot,  ubi  supra,  p.  201. 

3  Guizot,  Ibid.,  p.  213.  With  such  dangers  threatening  civil  and  relig- 
ious society,  it  is  easy  to  infer  for  what  purpose  travelling  builders  should 
ultimately  desire  to  organize  themselves  into  an  oath-bound  fraternity. 

4  Auf  dem  Lande  herrschte  auch  im  Yahre  1073  noch  keine  Freiheit.  Wirth, 
Oeschichte  der  Deutschen,  Bd.  II.,  p.  92. 


60 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


because,  by  means  of  their  mechanical  occupation,  the 
tradespeople  rendered  themselves  independent  of  agricul- 
tural labors.  Manual  labor  was  especially  contemned  by 
the  owners  of  landed  estates,  particularly  as,  according  to 
the  spirit  of  the  old  constitution,  the  ranks  of  artificers 
must  be  recruited  from  the  social  grade  of  bondsmen. 
Under  such  circumstances,  it  cannot  be  presumed  that 
tradesmen  had  much  influence  in  public  affairs.  On  the 
contrary,  for  the  purpose  of  reminding  them  of  their 
servile  descent,  grinding  taxes  and  heavy  imposts  were 
exacted,  which,  moreover,  preserved  the  identity  between 
them  and  the  agrarian  serf.1  Portions  of  land  encom- 
passed by  the  town  walls  were  the  property  of  either 
princes,  bishop,  or  the  emperor,  and  whenever  an  artisan 
erected  his  dwelling  there,  such  residence  brought  with  it 
a  milder  form  of  service.  To  all  outward  appearances,  the 
tradesman's  condition  in  the  town  was  but  little  removed 
from  that  of  the  provincial  serf  on  his  owner's  lands,  yet, 
in  fact,  it  was  far  preferable.  Opportunities  for  greater 
service  abundantly  offered  themselves,  and,  by  a  persistent 
zeal,  steady  industry,  and  scrupulous  economy,  such  persons 
were  ultimately  able  to  become  independent  of  these  bur- 
dens, or  in  some  manner  cease  to  be  subject  to  them.  In 
the  provinces,  the  serf  was  in  reality  the  artisan  for  his 
lord ;  but  the  community  of  interests,  which  welded  the 

1  Die  Handarbeit  wurde  auch  damals  von  den  Grundherren  noch  tief  ver- 
achtet,  und  die  Geschlechter  in  den  Stiidten  konnten  ihren  Adel  nur  durch 
strenge  Vermeidung  eines  biirgerlichen  Gewerbes  bewahren.  Nach  dem  Geiste 
der  alten  Verfassung  muszten  die  Handwerker  aus  dem  Stande  der  Leibeignen 
hervorgehen.  Wirth,  Geschichte  der  Deutschen,  Bd.  II.,  pp.  92-3.  According 
to  this  author,  op.  cit.,  p.  93,  the  class  of  laborers  indicated  in  the  text  were 
not  authorized  to  adjudicate  difficulties  arising  among  themselves,  nor  per- 
mitted to  select  officers  or  judges  from  their  caste.  The  character  of  the 
handicraft  performed  by  monastic  builders,  and  their  connection  with  church 
government,  no  doubt  afforded  opportunities  of  extending  their  privileges, 
and  secured  greater  concessions  than  the  more  servile  craftsmen,  whose  limited 
skill  necessarily  made  them  less  desirable  workmen. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


61 


tradespeople  together  in  towns  or  cities,  afforded  an  oppor- 
tunity for  a  mutual  protection,  and  also,  by  a  free  inter- 
change of  thought  and  constant  contact,  the  advantages  of 
increasing  in  artistic  cleverness.  As  a  result,  the  city 
artist,  who  had  reached  a  degree  of  skill  in  his  trade 
which  was  impossible  with  the  rural  workman,  secured 
the  patronage 1  of  nobility,  whose  increasing  demands  for 
fine  goods  and  skilled  workmanship  in  ornate  garments, 
elegant  armor,  weapons,  etc.,  materially  advanced  his  in- 
terests.2 Following  the  example  of  his  illustrious  father, 
Otto  I.  had  encouraged  commerce  in  addition  to  granting 
numerous  concessions,  freeing  the  trades  from  many  local 
imposts. 

During  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries,  commerce  had 
increased  to  such  extent  that  a  lively  trade  sprung  up  on 
the  Elbe  and  Rhine.  Wirth3  alleges  that  in  the  year  979, 
by  a  law  of  King  Ethelred  II.,  certain  privileges  were  con- 
ceded to  German  merchants.  Through  the  agencies  of 
these  various  causes,  a  gradual  accumulation  of  wealth  by 
the  citizens  of  towns  and  cities  made  the  extortions  of  the 
nobility  more  irritating,  and  led  to  frequent  insurrections, 
which  ended  in  granting  communal  charters.4  Previous 
to  the  investiture  of  citizenship  in  a  chartered  community, 
each  person  was  obliged  to  swear  faithfully  to  preserve 
the  commune.  Magistrates  were  nominated  in  a  public 
assembly  convoked  by^  sound  of  a  bell.  After  the  election 
had  taken  place,  the  convocation  dissolved,  not  to  meet 
again  until  new  elections  were  called.     The  magistrate 

1  So  wollten  Bischofe  und  Edelleute  ihren  Schmuck  von  den  biirgerlichen 
Arbeitern  beziehen,  wodnrch  denn  diesen  ein  betrachtlicher  Verdienst  zuging. 
Wirth,  Geschichte  der  Deutschen,  Theil  II.,  p.  94. 

2  Les  possesseurs  des  domaines,  an  milieu  desquels  elles  e*taient  situees  re- 
connurent  qu'ils  profitaient  de  leur  prosperite  et  avaient  interet  a  en  seconder 
le  developpement.  Guizot,  Histoire  de  la  Civilisation  en  France,  Tome  IV., 
p.  214. 

3  Geschichte  der  Deutschen,  Bd.  II.,  p.  94. 

*  Guizot,  Histoire  Generale  de  la  Civilisation  en  Europe,  p.  203. 
6 


62 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


governed  almost  alone,  and  without  responsibility,  until 
his  term  of  office  expired,  or  was  checked  by  a  popular 
entente,  which  constituted  the  grand  corrective  of  those 
ages.1  Guizot2  gives  in  full  a  charter  granted  to  the  city 
of  Orleans,  which  is,  perhaps,  the  earliest  document  pre- 
served, wherein  certain  concessions  are  made,  some  of 
which  relieve  the  citizens  for  the  future  from  an  exaction 
of  wine  tollage  during  vintage  season.  This  charter  was 
issued  in  the  year  1057. 

Two  causes  powerfully  cooperated  at  this  epoch  to 
wrest  the  exclusive  possession  of  architectural  and  plastic 
art  from  the  monasteries  and  cloister  brethren,  who  hith- 
erto had  retained  the  entire  control  of  it,  the  first  of 
which  was  the  acquisition  of  enormous  wealth  by  the  con- 
vents and  abbeys.  Consequently,  religious  service  had 
become,  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy,  a  mere  mummery,  and 
an  instrument  whereby  the  laity  could  be  held  in  sub- 
jugation. Luxury  and  dissipation  crept  within  walls 
which,  for  centuries,  were  regarded  by  credulous  minds  as 
invested  with  the  odor  of  sanctity.3  Dissolute  hahits 
sapped  the  nervous  energy  with  which  the  ecclesiastics 
had  labored  to  attract  the  popular  mind  by  the  elegance 
of  churches  and  chapels,  and  nearly  all  spiritual  knowl- 
edge was  ignored.  Notwithstanding  there  were  many 
monks  withal,  who  continued  to  prosecute  the  construc- 
tion of  sacred  edifices,  and  adorn  them  with  an  intense 
and  zealous  assiduity,  the  alteration  of  monastic  discipline 
and  the  new  social  condition  of  laymen  of  this  age  per- 
mitted the  exclusive  possession  of  art  to  pass  from  their 
control.4    The  second  of  the  causes  to  which  we  have 

1  Guizot,  Histoire  Generate  de  la  Civilisation  en  Europe,  p.  217. 

2  Histoire  de  la  Civilisation  en  France,  Tome  IV.,  p.  388. 

3  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  520. 

4  Da  traten  Ktinstler  auszerhalb  der  Kloster  auf,  und  das  ganze  Wesen  der 
Kunst  nahm  eine  andere  Gestalt  an.  Stieglitz,  in  he.  cit.  Lay  brethren  were 
regularly  accepted  into  such  fraternal  relations  upon  petition  presented  to  a 
chapter  of  monks.    Fosbroke,  British  Monachism,  p.  191. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


63 


alluded  was  the  gradual,  change  which  had  taken  place 
in  the  regulation  of  conventual  institutions  early  in  the 
eleventh  century.  At  first  none  were  admitted  to  fellow- 
ship with  the  monks  except  such  as  consecrated  them- 
selves to  the  practical  duties  of  priesthood.  By  the  alter- 
ation referred  to,  any  one  might  foe  received  as  a  bro- 
ther, without  being  compelled  to  assume  monkish  attire, 
or  to  take  the  usual  vows.  These  neophytes  performed 
the  domestic  duties  incident  to  monasteries,  and  in  their 
hands  was  entrusted  all  manual  labor.1  It  will  be  seen 
that  in  this  way  laymen  could  acquire  a  thorough  and 
practical  knowledge  of  the  various  arts  and  mechanical 
trades  taught  in  the  abbeys ;  and  through  these  lay  brethren, 
the  general  principles  of  art  which  were  obtained  within 
the  wails  of  monasteries,  extended  to  persons  not  imme- 
diately connected  with  the  cloisters. 

The  progress  which  the  industrial  arts  had  made  in 
the  cities  of  Germany,  was  assisted  by  the  establishment 
of  free  communes,  where  branches  of  trade  were  more 
securely  followed.  However,  the  constant  warfare  waged 
between  the  artisans  and  nobility,  which  ended  in  the 
several  concessions  as  previously  stated,  demanded  a  closer 
union  of  the  citizens,  both  to  successfully  terminate  their 
struggles  for  individual  freedom,  and  to  maintain  the 
privileges  wrung  from  determined  oppressors  with  so 
great  labor.     And  at  a  time  when,  amidst  the  almost 

1  Da  gab  es  erstlich  Laienbriider,  die  in  alien  Stiicken  mit  den  Monchen 
sicli  nach  der  eingefiihrten  Zuchtordnung  richteten  nnd  nur  nicht  zu  Priestern 
geweiht  wurden.  Endlich  Geschenkle  oder  Geopferte,  welche  ohne  Monchs- 
rock  und  ohne  Geliibde  im  Kloster  mitlebten,  ihm  ihre  Habe  zubrachten  unci 
nachlieszen,  auch  anstatt  der  Monche,  die  nothigen  Handarbeiten  und  wirth- 
schaftlichen  Dienste  verrichteten.  Henke,  Kirchengeschichte,  Bd.  II.,  p.  177. 
Vide  Du  Cange,  Gloss.  Med.  et  Infim.  hat.,  sub  voce,  Oblati.  The  Oblati,  in 
token  of  submission,  bound  a  bell-rope  about  their  necks.  Fosbroke,  British 
Monachism,  chap,  xxx.,  gives  much  valuable  information  touching  the  regu- 
lations enjoined  upon  these  lay  brethren  while  at  work  within  the  monastic 
shops. 


6i 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


total  disregard  of  personal  rights  and  the  unnumbered 
acts  of  violence ;  when  royal  authority  was  openly  defied, 
and  was  confessedly  powerless  to  repress  outrages  to 
which  people  were  daily  subjected,  then  it  was  that  citi- 
zens were  compelled  to  associate  themselves  into  more 
intimate  organizations,  driven  by  instinct  of  self-preser- 
vation, in  order  to  maintain  their  property  and  preserve 
their  personal  security.1 

1  Als  nilmlich  in  den  Zeiten  allgemeiner  Umgriffe  und  Gewaltthatigkeiten, 
wo  es  den  Konigen  an  nachdriicklichen  Zwangs-und  Vollstreckungsmitteln 
zur  Selbsthulfe  genothigt  waren,  behaupteten  diese  ihr  Eigenthum  und  ihre 
Sicherheit  mit  dem  Waffen.  Ungewitter,  Geschichte  des  Handels  und  der  In- 
dustrie, p.  233.  So  far  as  the  origin  of  guilds  is  concerned,  there  can  be  no 
question  that  their  existence  is  coeval  with  the  Teutonic  constitution.  Wilda, 
Das  GildenWesen,  pp.  3,  212;  Lacroix,  Moeurs  el  Usages,  p.  52;  also,  Toulman 
Smith,  English  Guilds,  pp.  73-79.  See,  also,  chapter  on  Guilds  in  the  subse- 
quent part  of  this  work. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Propagation  of  Societies  or  Guilds  for  Mutual  Protection  — 
Concessions  to  Guildic  Tradesmen  —  Mediaeval  Craftsmen  Or- 
ganized into  Mutual-Help  Associations  —  Their  Importance 
and  Extent  —  Unsuccessful  Efforts  to  Destroy  them — Right 
of  Internal  Government  Recognized. 


HE  eleventh  century  was  the  epoch  at  which,  as 
previously  stated,  the  various  elements  of  modern 
society  had  amalgamated  and  assumed  their  rela- 
tive proportions  in  the  universal  mass  of  the 


body  politic.  Among,  the  prominent  features  of  this 
transformation,  that  individualizing  tendency,  already 
mentioned,  is  noticeably  apparent,  and  nowhere  does  this 
characteristic  betray  itself  so  strikingly  as  in  the  rapid 
spread  of  guilds  or  associations  of  artificers  and  others, 
voluntarily  formed  for  purposes  of  mutual  protection  ;  and 
nothing,  perhaps,  has  so  largely  contributed  to  the  in- 
crease of  power  and  significance,  to  the  foundation  of  the 
freedom  and  importance  of  mechanical  labor,  as  these 
societies  or  fraternities.  Divested  of  the  many  abuses 
which  resulted  from  the  development  of  these  guilds,  in 
their  relation  to  public  affairs,  inestimable  advantage  was 
derived  from  the  intimate  connection  which  necessarily 
existed  between  the  apprentices  and  their  masters.  The 
apprentice  was  received  into  the  bosom  of  his  master's 
family  upon  a  footing  of  equality,  and  the  mistress  of  the 
house  regarded  him  as  a  son.1    What  a  vast  distinction  is 


Friedrich  von  Raumer,  Geschichte  der  Hohenstaufen,  Bd.  V.,  p.  309. 
6*  E  65 


66 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


here  between  the  servile  labor  of  the  Roman  tradesman ; 
the  hopeless  task  of  the  land-bound  artist  prior  to  the 
eleventh  century,  and  the  ennobled  apprentice,  who,  on 
equal  terms,  worked  under  the  parental  guidance  of  a  free 
master ! 1  N 

In  the  year  1061,  Philip  I.  of  France  instituted  a 
guild  of  tallow-chandlers,  which,  according  to  Yon 
Raumer,2  is  the  earliest  of  record.  It  was  established 
four  years  after  the  charter3  enfranchising  the  city  of 
Orleans,  in  1057,  was  granted  by  Henry  I.,  and,  in  a 
measure,  confirms  the  assumption  that  the  same  spirit  of 
personal  liberty  which  wrung  this  warrant  from  the  royal 
prerogatives,  also  compelled  a  recognition  of  the  declared 
rights  of  these  humble  tallow-chandlers !  In  the  twelfth 
century,  guilds  had  spread  with  marvellous  rapidity4 
throughout  Europe,  and  were '  composed  of  nearly  every 
trade  or  occupation.  In  the  year  1106,  the  fishmongers 
associated  at  Worms,  and  were  permitted  the  exercise  of 
certain  privileges.5  Among  the  leading  occupations  in- 
corporated into  guilds6  of  this  age,  in  Italy,  were  mer- 

1  A  cant  expression,  much  used  during  the  Middle  Ages. 

2  Im  Yahr  1061  (die  selteste)  fur  Lichtzieher  von  Philip  I.  Von  Eauraer, 
loc.  cit.  n.  (5).  Winzer,  Die  deutschen  Bruderschaften  des  Miitelalters,  p.  42,  says 
a  charter  was  in  the  possession  of  a  guild  of  fishermen,  at  Kavenna,  about  the 
commencement  of  the  tenth  century.  He  does  not,  however,  properly  au- 
thenticate the  assertion.  It  appears  that  Otto  III.,  at  the  request  of  the  Bishop 
of  Pisa,  conceded  to  the  merchants  of  Asti  greater  facilities  for  their  business, 
but  nothing  of  a  charter  is  mentioned.  Gia  nel  992  Ottore  III.  avea  conce- 
duto  ai  mercatanti  d'Asti  ampia  facolta,  etc.  Cibrario,  Frammenti  Storici,  pp. 
216-17. 

8  As  this  charter  of  Henri  I.,  in  the  year  1057,  possesses  an  interest  on 
account  of  its  remote  antiquity,  and  is,  perhaps,  the  earliest  royal  concession 
preserved,  I  refer  the  reader  to  Guizot,  Histoire  de  la  Civilisation  en  France, 
Tome  IV.,  p.  307,  where  it  may  be  found. 

*  Von  Kaumer,  Geschichte  der  Hokenstaufen,  Bd.  V.,  p.  309. 

5Im  Yahre  1106,  Fischerinnung  in  Worms;  1134,  Tuchmacher  und 
Kuschner  in  Quedlenburg.  Von  Kaumer,  Geschichte  der  Hohenstaufen,  Bd. 
V.,  p.  309,  n.  (5). 

6Ungewitter,  Geschichte  des  Handels  und  der  Industrie,  pp.  234-5.  This 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


67 


chants,  money-changers,  woollen  weavers,  tailors,  surgeons, 
apothecaries,  silk  workers,  coachmakers,  steel  workers, 
goldsmiths,  carpenters,  stonecutters  and  masons.1  These 
guilds  or  trades'  unions,  uniting  the  several  branches  of 
business  or  industry,  exercised  almost  unlimited  control 
over  the  political  concerns  of  various  European  cities. 
Combined  originally  for  mutual  aid  and  protection,  these 
societies  ultimately  developed  into  closely  organized  cor- 
porations.2 To  such  an  extreme  were  their  presumptions 
carried,  that,  in  the  year  1273,  in  the  city  of  Pistoja, 
their  privileges  were  revoked,  and  the  associations  opened 
to  the  public.  In  Perugia,  on  account  of  their  vast 
political  influence  having  been  unduly  exerted  in  favor 
of  his  opponent,  Pope  Innocence  IV.,  for  whose  cause 
contributions  of  money  were  made  by  them,  they  were 
suppressed  by  Gregory  IX.3  In  Denmark,  in  the  time  of 
Canute,  these  brotherhoods  had  the  power  to  elect  a  pre- 
siding officer :  they  had  also  a  secretary,  halls  to  meet  in, 
independent  judicial  powers,  and  formal  processes  for 
compulsory  attendance.4  Von  Raumer  asserts5  that  this 
right  of  election  was  universal  among  the  guilds,  and 
sometimes  a  protector,  usually  a  person  of  high  standing 
and  noble  birth,6  was  selected  to  represent  their  interests 

author  uses  the  words  Steinmetzen  and  Maurer  to  signify  the  same  profession. 
Vide  Machiavelli,  Istorie  Florentine,  Tomo  I.,  pp.  402-3,  etc. 

1  For  additional  information  on  the  subject  of  Italian  guilds,  see  Von 
Eaumer,  ut  supra,  Bd.  IV.,  p.  336. 

2  Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer  wahren  Bedeutung,  p.  227. 

8  Von  Eaumer,  Geschichte  der  Hohenstaufen,  Bd.  V.,  p.  98,  and  Wilda,  Das 
Gilden  Wesen  im  Mittelalter,  pp.  40,  174-5,  for  government  measures  against 
guilds ;  also  Unger,  Die  Altdeutsche  Gerichts-verfassung,  p.  68. 

4  Dahlmann,  Geschichte  von  Ddnnemark,  Bd.  IIT.,  p.  13. 

5  Geschichte  der  Hohenstaufen,  V.,  p.  311.  The  majority  of  voices  under  the 
master's  rulings  usually  decided  questions  which  came  before  these  bodies. 
In  der  Zunft  entschied  gewohnlich  die  Mehrheit  der  Stimmen  unter  dem 
Vorsitz  eines  Altmeisters.  Ibid. 

6  Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer  wahren  Bedeutung,  p.  279,  says  Masonic 
guilds  had  no  patrons.    He  is  clearly  in  error,  as  we  shall  presently  see.  Con- 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


in  the  councils  of  the  cities.  In  the  year  1155,  Louis  VII., 
king  of  France,  issued  his  royal  warrant  to  the  butchers 
at  Etampes,  revoking  certain  imposts  and  contributions 
which  had  been  levied  upon  them  by  the  sergeants  of  the 
city,  the  prevot,  and  others.  A  few  years  later,  among 
the  concessions  made  to  the  tradesmen  of  the  same  city, 
it  was  set  forth  in  a  charter  of  Louis  VII.  that,  in  future, 
the  wax  merchants  should  only  be  assessed  a  denier  (less 
than  a  penny)  on  their  wares,  and  this  but  once  a  year. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  Philip  Augus- 
tus made  an  important  concession  to  the  weavers  of  the 
same  place.1  "We  shall  have  occasion  hereafter  to  refer 
more  at  length  to  this  charter. 

suit  upon  this  Wilda,  Gilden  Wesen,  p.  333,  and  Krause,  Kunsturkunden,  Theil 
II.,  Abt.  1,  p.  107,  and  Winzer,  Die  deutschen  Bruderschaften  des  Mittelalters, 
p.  30. 

1  Guizot,  Histoire  de  la  Civilisation  en  France,  Tome  IV.,  pp.  327-322.  This 
charter  conceded  the  right  of  duelling  among  the  members.  If  the  combat 
occurred  in  consequence  of  some  grave  infraction  of  the  law,  the  victor  was 
entitled  to  a  pecuniary  reward :  le  champion  vainqueur  ne  recevra  pas  plus  de 
trente-deux  sous,  etc. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


Guilds  of  Freemasons  in  the  Eleventh  Century  —  Building  Art 
passes  from  the  church  to  organized  craftsmen  —  ecclesiastics 
still  form  part  of  masonic  bodies  —  vast  structures  erected 
in  this  and  ensuing  centuries  —  skilled  workmen  alone  ad- 
MITTED among  Freemasons  —  They  Work  on  Uniform  Plans  and 
Preserve  Traditional  Types  —  Degrees  of  Apprentice,  Fellow, 
or  Companion,  and  Master  —  Religious  Tendency  of  Mediaeval 
Masons  —  Salutary  Effect  of  these  Craftsmen  on  Architec- 
ture—  They  go  from  Province  to  Province,  Constructing  Sa- 
cred AND  OTHER  EDIFICES. 

EFERE^TCE  has  already  been  made  to  the  manner 
in  which  the  laity  acquired  a  general  familiarity 
with  the  principles  of  art  during  the  eleventh 
century.  It  was  at  this  epoch  that  the  guilds, 
or  associations  of  constructors  or  Freemasons,  assumed  a 
definite  position  in  mediaeval  society.1  Architectural  art, 
which  previously  had  remained  the  exclusive  property  of 
the  cloisters,  passed  from  the  possession  of  monastic  work- 
men into  the  control  of  artists  outside  of  conventual  walls.2 

1  Cest  a  cette  epoque,  c'est-a-dire  au  onzieme  siecle  ....  que  se  formerent 
les  premieres  associations  de  constructeurs,  dont  les  abbes  et  les  prelats  fai- 
saient  eux-memes  partie.    Lacroix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  390. 

*  Datraten  auszerhalb  der  Kloster  auf,  und  das  ganze  Wesen  der  Kunst  nahm 
eine  andere  Gestalt  an.  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  520.  Luebke, 
Oeschichte  der  Architectur,  p.  340,  says  that  this  transition  occurred  about  the 
twelfth  century,  and  from  this  time  henceforth  art  knowledge  was  preserved 
in  close  organizations  of  Freemasons.  Ibid.,  464.  The  frequent  mention  of 
monk  workmen  among  the  Middle  Age  Freemasons  leads  Krause  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  a  union  occurred  after  the  change  above  adverted  to.  It  is  not  proba- 
ble, however.    Vide  Die  drei  celtesten  Kunsturkunden,  Theil  I.,  Abt.  2,  p.  307. 

69 


70 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


The  entire  characteristics  of  art,  in  consequence  of  this  move- 
ment, assumed  another  form.  Architecture,  no  longer  ex- 
clusively cultivated  in  secluded  monasteries  and  wrought 
out  with  a  greater  or  lesser  degree  of  skill  in  proportion  to 
the  standard  of  excellence  attained  by  clerical  workmen,  had 
now  become  the  property  of  artificers,  who,  closely  joined 
together  in  guilds,  worked  in  strict  accordance  with  gener- 
ally-established and  well-understood  principles,  and  with  a 
rigid  adherence  to  certain  rules  which  had  descended  to 
them  from  remoter  ages.1  Of  these  associations,  the  abbes 
and  prelates  necessarily  formed  a  part.  These  guilds  of 
builders  were  essentially  composed  of  men  bound  together 
by  a  religious  vow.2  Consequently,  when  the  insecurity 
of  those  ages  demanded  a  closer  association  of  skilled 
labor,  these  fraternities  of  constructors  or  masons  were 
reorganized  under  the  influence  and  direction  of  church  dis- 
cipline.3 At  this  period  the  increasing  demand  for  the 
erection  and  decoration  of  cathedrals  and  other  houses  of 
religious  worship  necessitated  the  employment  of  work- 
men both  practical  and  conversant  with  the  details  of  art. 
The  enthusiasm^  for  the  construction  of  churches  and 
abbeys  which  surged  up  during  the  eleventh  century,  ren- 
dered it  essential  that  a  larger  number  of  artisans  should 
be  employed  than  at  any  time  prior  to  this  era.  When 
the  opening  year  of  the  eleventh  century  had  reassured 
the  superstitious  spirit  of  those  who  previously  expected 
a  dissolution  of  the  Universe,  zealous  impulses  for  the  build- 
ing of  sacred  edifices  moved  the  entire  Latin  church.  This 
enthusiasm  developed  into  a  mania.  In  every  direction 
old  churches  were  razed  to  the  ground  ;  everywhere  arose 

1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  520. 

2  Qui  etaient  essentiellement  composees  d'hommes  lies  par  un  voeu  reli- 
gieux.    Lacroix,  ut  supra,  p.  390. 

3  Church  exigencies,  which  demanded  the  constant  exercise  of  the  Free- 
masons' art  knowledge,  will  readily  suggest  a  valid  reason  for  the  continuance 
of  these  corporations  under  ecclesiastical  influence. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


71 


new  edifices,  vaster  and  more  elegant  than  those  preceding 
them.  In  the  year  1001  the  church  of  St.  Benigne  and 
the  rotunda,  still  preserved  at  Dijon,  were  constructed. 
At  Rheims,  in  the  year  1005  ;  Tours,  in  1012 ;  Cambrai, 
in  1020 ;  Orleans,  Limoges,  and  in  many  other  towns 
in  France,  numerous  cathedrals  were  erected.1  Robert, 
king  of  France,  alone  built  twenty-one  churches,  the 
remains  of  which  have  descended  to  our  day.  Clugny 
Abbey  still  possesses  a  curiously-wrought  structure, 
dating  back  to  the  year  1088.  Thiemon,  a  German  artist, 
towards  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century,  had  signal- 
ized himself  as  an  operative  mason  or  stonecutter. 
After  having  enriched  several  convents  with  his  handi- 
craft, he  was  inducted  into  the  archepiscopal  see  of  Salz- 
burg in  the  year  1090.2  Fiue  arts  were  still  fostered  in 
the  convents  of  Europe  ;  and,  as  no  church  could  be  erected 
without  the  consent  and  under  the  superintendence  of 
the  diocesan  bishop,  none  but  the  most  skilled  laborers 
were  accepted  as  workmen,  nor  were  ordinary  artisans 
admitted  to  the  highly-prized  rights  and  privileges  of 
these  religious  associations  of  builders.3 

From  the  closeness  of  their  organizations,  the  guilds 
were  suffered,  by  the  terms  of  their  charters,  when  actually 
granted,  or  in  accordance  with  immemorial  usage,4  to  reject 
all  who  were,  from  ignorance  or  inability  to  learn,  not 
duly  qualified  to  become  members.5  The  earlier  statuesque 

1  Eraeric  David,  Histoire  de  la  Peinture  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  108. 

2  Thiemon,  peintre,  sculpteur,  professeur  de  belles  lettres,  qui,  apres  avoir 
enrich!  de  ses  ouvrages  plusieurs  convents,  fut  nomme  en  1090  Archeveque  de 
Salzbourg.  David,  Ibid.,  p.  112.  On  the  subject  of  distinguished  persons 
being  proficient  in  the  above  art,  and  for  an  amusing  reference  to  James  I., 
see  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture  in  England,  p.  116. 

3  Lacroix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  390. 

*  It  has  been  clearly  demonstrated,  by  the  best  authorities  on  the  subject  of 
guilds,  that  there  were  no  original  charters  calling  such  bodies  into  existence. 
Toulman  Smith,  English  Guilds,  p.  128 ;  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  im  MitteJlr 
alter,  p.  96. 

6  Pour  qu'il  sache  fere  le  mestier.    Boileau,  RZglements  des  Arts  el  Metiers, 


72 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


productions  of  this  epoch  frequently  betray  a  want  of  skill, 
and  from  this  Stieglitz1  is  led  to  conclude  that,  until  the 
guilds  of  Freemasons  had  become  more  widely  extended, 
there  was  only  a  limited  intercourse  existing  between  the 
more  remote  cloisters  where  plastic  art,  as  we  have  seen, 
continued  to  be  cultivated,  and  that  the  religious  artist, 
thus  isolated,  worked  according  to  his  own  models.  How- 
ever elevated,  therefore,  the  artistic  standard  may  have 
been  in  a  certain  monastery,  it  could  scarcely  have  exer- 
cised sufficient  influence  to  be  felt  upon  similar  institutions 
situated  at  a  remote  distance.  Moreover,  that  there  were 
artisans  of  great  merit  in  this  age,  is  proven  by  such  relics 
as  have  descended  to  us,  and  that  the  general  character 
of  their  productions  was  the  result  of  personal  study  and 
application,  cannot  be  denied.  It  has  been  conjectured,2 
from  the  figures  of  our  Saviour  in  the  chancel  of  the  church 
at  Wechselberg,  that  the  Byzantine  artists  were  the  pre- 
cursors of  mediaeval  artists  —  an  assumption  which,  I 
think,  is  fully  corroborated  by  the  ever-recurring  Greek 
types  and  symbols  in  church  architecture.  We  have 
endeavored  to  show  how,  in  the  early  age  of  the  Latin 
•church,  almost  all  works  of  art  were  executed  by  these 
workmen,  and  when  the  convents  became  possessed  of 
architectural  and  plastic  arts,  they  mainly  derived  them 
from  the  Byzantine  operatives.  When,  therefore,  this  art 
passed  from  the  hands  of  monastic  laborers  into  the  custody 
of  a  society  of  lay  constructors,  it  carried  with  it  all  the 


Manche  Gewerbe  waren  daselbst  gesehlossen  oder  die  Aufnalime  hing  docli 
von  Koniglicher  und  stadischer  Genehmigung  ab ;  anders  durfte  man  treiben 
sobald  man  nur  die  nothigen  Kentnisse  nachwies.  Von  Raumer,  Geschichte 
der  Hohenstaufen,  Bd.  V.,  p.  311.  Sometimes  a  property  qualification  was 
essential  for  admission  to  gnildic  membership :  et  il  ait  coi.  Boileau,  ut  supra. 
A  multiplicity  of  guilds  was  considered  highly  beneficial,  both  for  the  finan- 
cial and  political  condition  of  the  mediaeval  cities.  Grimm,  Meistergesang, 
p.  10. 

1  Geschichte  der  Baukumt,  p.  513.  2  Stieglitz,  Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


traditional  types  and  symbols  with  which  the  ecclesiastics 
invested  their  sacred  edifices. 

These  guilds,  in  their  organized  form,  so  far  at  least  as 
was  essential  to  their  cohesion,  introduced  naturally  such 
elements,  eliminated  from  civil  society  of  that  age,  as  tended 
to  direct  their  establishment  to  practical  purposes.  For 
instance,  Freemasonry  borrowed,  as  before  suggested,  the 
outlines  of  its  constitution  from  the  three  amalgamated 
principles  which  were  fundamental  in  the  early  Middle 
Ages  :  the  autocratic,  personal  independence,  and  ecclesias- 
tical. It  was  necessarily  tinctured  with  the  mythological 
superstitions,  which  still  retained  at  this  period  a  vigorous 
hold  on  the  people  of  Northern  Europe.  As  the  guilds 
traced  their  origin  back  into  the  twilight  of  time,  and  were 
coeval  with  the  first  forms  of  Germanic  society,1  conse- 
quently many  fragments  of  heathen  rites  and  observances 
passed  with  them  into  succeeding  mediaeval  fraternities. 
It  may  therefore  be  safely  alleged  that  Teutonic  mythology, 
from  its  earliest  contact  with  the  Eastern  builders  in  the 
fifth  century,  and  through  the  line  of  centuries  following, 
has  contributed  very  largely  to  Masonic  symbolism.  The 
guilds  of  constructors  or  Freemasons  appropriated  the 
several  degrees  which,  as  we  have  already  seen,  existed  in 
the  monasteries  at  a  very  early  age,  viz. :  Apprentice, 
Fellow,  and  Master.  As  these  fraternities  were  reorganized 
under  church  patronage,  they  imbibed  at  their  inception  a 
strong  religious  sentiment, — a  characteristic  which  has 
come  down  with  Masonic  lodges  from  past  ages. 

During  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  the  society  of 
constructors  or  Freemasons  had  become  established  on  a 
solid  basis,  and  began  to  exercise  a  widespread  and  salutary 
influence  upon  the  architecture  of  Europe.  Towards  the 
termination  of  the  eleventh  century,  this  brotherhood  of 

1  Wilda,  Dos  Gilden  Wesen  im  Mittelaller,  p.  3 ;  Toulman  Smith,  English 
Guilds,  pp.  86,  73  ;  Rogge,  Das  Gerichtswesen  der  Germanen,  p.  61 ;  and  Unger, 
Die  Altdeutsche  Gerichts-verfassung,  pp.  47, 50. 
7 


74 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


artists  executed  in  Alsace  many  prodigious  works  of  art.1 
In  Normandy,  at  the  commencement  of  the  twelfth  century, 
the  same  zeal  and  same  extent  of  artistic  labor  are  ex- 
hibited. A  few  of  the  names  of  these  ancient  builders 
have  been  transmitted  to  us :  Otho,  who  built  the  cathe- 
dral of  Seez ;  Gamier,  that  of  Fecamp,  and  Auquetil, 
who  erected  the  minster  of  Petit  Ville.2  At  this  epoch 
the  Freemasons  formed  a  numerous  and  powerful  corpora- 
tion,3 and  architecture,  together  with  many  other  arts,  at 
this  time  passed  from  the  monasteries  into  the  possession 
of  lay  architects,  organized  into  fraternities  of  Masons.4 
These  travelled  from  country  to  country,  transmitting 
the  traditional  types  of  workmanship,  and  from  this  cir- 
cumstance resulted  that  monuments  of  their  skill,  erected 
at  the  remotest  distance  from  each  other,  offered  %a  strik- 
ing analogy,  and  frequently  a  complete  similitude. 

1  Lacroix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  364. 

2  Lacroix,  Ibid.,  pp.  364-5. 

3  Les  maeons  et  sculpteurs  formaient  a  cette  epoque  une  nombreuse  et  puis- 
sante  corporation.    Lacroix,  loc.  ext.  f 

4  C'est  d'ailleurs  a  cette  epoque  que  1' architecture,  comme  tous  les  autres 
arts,  sort  des  monasteres  pour  passer  aux  mains  des  architectes  laiques,  organ- 
ises en  confr&ries,  voyageant  d'un  pays  a  l'autre,  et  transmettant  ainsi  les 
types  traditonnels.  Lacroix,  ut  supra,  p.  401.  Also,  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der 
Bmikunst,  p.  528.  So  bildeten  sich  auch  aus  den  Handwerken,  welche  im 
Klosterverband  lebend,  den  Monchen  bei  der  ausfuhrung  der  Bauten  dienten, 
gen ossen sch aftlichen  Verbruederungen  aus  denen  sin  der  Folge  ohne  Zweifel 
die  Bauhtitten  hervor  gingen.  Luebke,  Geschichte  der  Architectur,  pp.  302-340 
and  464,  where  this  distinguished  archaeologist  asserts  that,  at  the  period  above 
noted,  the  arts  passed  into  secret  organizations,  controlled  by  weltliche  Meister 
—  lay  masters. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Uncertainty  op  Masonic  History  at  this  Epoch  —  John  Moreau 
Builds  Melrose  Abbey  in  the  Twelfth  Century  —  A  French 
Mason — Great  Britain  depends  on  Gallic  Craftsmen  for  Build- 
ers —  William  of  Sens  —  Moreau,  Master  of  Scottish  Masons  — 
Architecture  Changes  to  Lancet  or  Gothic  Style  —  Building 
Art  in  Germany  —  Cathedrals  of  Cologne  and  Strassburg  — 
The  Last  begun  by  Greek  Artists  —  Erwin  of  Steinbach,  the 
Master  Builder  —  His  Daughter,  Sabina,  a  Skilled  Architect 
—  Church  of  Saint  Stephen  at  Vienna. 

^T]HE  external  history  of  Freemasonry  of  this  age  is 
|Ig  involved  in  gloom  and  uncertainty.  In  a  few 
instances  the  master  architect  has  engraved  upon 
lasting  walls  the  visible  signs  of  his  superintend- 
ence, and  with  these  rare  exceptions  further  traces  have 
escaped  the  vigilant  searches  of  the  most  enthusiastic 
writers.  The  accounts,  which  were  certainly  kept  by  the 
cloisters  and  churches  in  the  erection  of  sacred  edifices, 
would  undoubtedly  furnish  valuable  information,  but  such 
records  cannot  be  found.1  The  earliest  authentic  mural  in- 
scription which  I  have  seen,  is  still  in  existence  at  Melrose. 
According  to  the  following  lines  on  a  foundation  stone, 
the  abbey  was  built  in  the  year  1136 : 

1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  512.  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture, 
Appendices  T.  and  II.,  presents  two  documents  relating  to  an  indenture  between 
the  Masons  and  church  authorities,  for  the  construction  of  an  abbey,  etc., 
about  the  fourteenth  century;  also,  Krause,  Kunsturhunden,  Thiel  II.,  Abt. 
2,  for  additional  information  and  authors  cited. 

75 


76 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


Anno  milleno,  centeno,  ter  quoque  deno, 
Et  sexto  Christi  Melross  fundata  fuisti. 

The  structure  was  ten  years  in  process  of  construction, 
having  been  finished  in  the  year  1146.  Above  the  door, 
on  the  west  side  of  the  transept,  is  an  inscription,  to  which 
the  name  of  John  Muruo  is  attached.  Another  record  is 
hewn  on  a  block  of  stone,  in  raised  letters,  on  the  south 
side  of  the  doorway,  evidently  referring  to  the  same  indi- 
vidual, who  was  the  architect,  or  Master  Mason,  of  the 
edifice.1  These  tablets  are  highly  interesting,  and  especially 
important  as  a  historical  monument,  showing  that  as  far 
back  as  the  year  1136,  at  least,  the  craft  was  already 
organized,  under  the  direction  of  lay  masters.  A  few  of 
these  letters  are  now  almost  effaced,  but  may  still  be  de- 
ciphered. From  an  accurate  copy  in  my  possession,  I  quote 
a  portion  of  it : 

John  :  Morow :  sum :  tyme :  callyt : 
Was :  I :  and  :  born  :  in  :  Parysse  : 
Certainly : 

It  is  evident  from  the  foregoing  that  John  Morow,  or 
Muruo,  the  superintending  architect,  was  a  foreigner  and 
a  Frenchman,  born  at  Paris.  It  has  hitherto  received  cur- 
rency among  architectural  writers,2  that  William  of  Sens 
was  the  first  Master  Mason  whose  works  are  still  extant  in 
Britain.  This  artist  was  also  a  native  of  France,  and  is 
described  as  ariifex  siibtilissimus,  —  a  very  skilful  artificer. 
He  went  to  England  in  the  year  1176,  in  order  to  recon- 
struct the  cathedral  of  Canterbury.3    Lacroix  says4  that 


1  See  Part  II.,  chap,  xxx.,  p.  323,  on  Mason's  Marks. 

2  Among  others,  Paly,  Manual  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  211. 

3  Lacroix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  368. 

4  L'Angleterre,  des  le  septitime  siecle,  avait  appele*  chez  elle  nos  maitres  de 
pierre,  nos  meilleurs  ouvriers  et  elle  continua  depuis  a  en  faire  autant  pour 
la  construction  et  1' ornamentation  de  ses  plus  beaux  Edifices  religieux.  La- 
croix, Ibid.,  p.  368. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


77 


Great  Britain,  thus  early  in  the  history  of  Freemasonry, 
seems  to  have  depended  upon  foreign  artisans  to  erect 
churches  and  abbeys.1  Gorman  and  French  master  builders 
restored  the  cloisters  of  Croyland,  Warmouth,  and  York, 
already  rich  in  Byzantine  and  French  sculpture.2 

Foreigners  conducted  the  principal  architectural  works 
of  England  at  this  and  later  periods ;  and  the  first  known 
Master  of  Masons  there  was  John  Morow,  a  Parisian,  who^ 
according  to  the  indisputable  attestation  of  the  partially 
decayed  inscription,  which  I  have  transcribed,  had  already 
laid  the  foundations  of  Melrose  Abbey  in  the  year  1136, 
and  completed  that  building,  now  in  melancholy  ruins,  in 
1146,  just  thirty  years  prior  to  the  arrival  of  William  of 
Sens,  in  the  year  1176.  Of  Master  John  Morow  we  possess 
little  additional  information.  From  the  same  partially 
obliterated  tablet  it  appears  that  he  was  the  Master,  per- 
haps General  or  Grand  Master,  of  all  the  Masonic  work 
or  lodges  at  Saint  Andrew's,  around  the  cathedral  of 
Glasgow,  and  at  the  churches  of  Paslay,  Niddisdale,  and 
Galway.3  Now  it  is  equally  clear  that  at  these  several 
edifices  there  were  Masons  at  work,  who,  according  to  the 
united  evidence  of  trustworthy  historians,4  usually,  when 
in  great  numbers,  labored  in  lodges ;  therefore  the  de- 
duction is  rational  and  direct,  that  there  were  lodges  of 

1  Vide  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  chap,  xxxvii.,  where  it  is  candidly  stated 
that  England  was  deluged  with  French  architects  from  the  period  of  the 
Norman  conquest  till  ages  after. 

2  Lacroix,  ut  supra,  loc.  ext. 

3  John :  Morow  :  sum  :  tyme :  callyt : 

 :  and  :  had  :  in  :  keeping  :  al : 

mason  :  werk  :  of :  Santan  drays  : 
ye  :  hye  :  kirk  :  of :  Glasgow  :  Melrose  : 
and  :  Paslay  :  of  Nyddysdayll : 
and  :  of :  Galway  :  I :  pray  :  to  :  God  : 
and  :  Mary  :  baith  and  :  sweet :  st : 
John  :  keep  :  this  :  haly  :  Kirk  : 
fra :  skaith : 
4  More  of  this  subject  hereafter. 
7* 


78 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


Masons  employed  upon  the  above  buildings.  If,  then, 
John  Morow  were  the  master  of  all  this  work,  or  of  these 
lodges,  he  was  possessed  of  a  jurisdiction  over  an  indefinite 
number  of  subordinate  bodies,  and  was,  in  a  word,  the 
General  or  Grand  Master.  I  should  infer  that  his  name, 
correctly  written,  was  Moreau,  from  the  circumstance  that 
it  is  once  engraved  Muruo,  which  is  nearly  an  English 
corruption  of  the  first ;  and  in  addition  to  this,  he  informs 
us  that  "he  was  sometimes  called  Morow"  signifying  that 
this  name  was  merely  accorded  him  by  the  people  among 
whom  he  was  domiciled,  whose  accentuation  had  modified 
Moreau  into  Murow  or  Muruo. 

The  fine  arts  in  England  were  much  indebted  to  William 
of  Sens,  He  first  introduced  the  chisel  at  the  rebuilding 
of  the  Canterbury  cathedral.1  In  the  preparation  of  free- 
stone for  building  purposes,  up  to  this  time,  the  adze  had 
been  used.  His  inventive  talent  constructed  the  turning- 
machine  and  modelled  planes.2  An  accident  terminated 
the  active  life  of  this  great  artist,  in  a  most  tragical 
manner.  A  scaffolding,  which  had  been  erected  in  the 
progress  of  the  repairs  to  the  cathedral,  yielded  to  the 
pressure  upon  it,  and  precipitated  William  of  Sens  to  the 
ground,  with  stones  and  timber  accompanying  his  fall.3  Al- 
though seriously  injured,  and  confined  to  his  bed,  he  was 
enabled,  by  the  assistance  of  another  Master  of  Masons,  to 
have  his  plans  duly  executed.  Failing,  however,  to  regain 
his  former  health,  he  returned  to  his  home  in  France,  for 
better  medical  facilities.4 

About  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century,  the  style  of 
architecture  which  has  received  the  appellation  of  the 
pointed  or  lancet  style,  and  which  ultimately  developed 

1  Archceologia,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  112. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  113 ;  also,  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture  in  England,  p.  257. 

3  Archceologia,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  114. 

4  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture,  p.  159.  Both  Poole  and  the  Archceologia, 
loc.  cit.,  have  used  Prof.  Willis's  translation  of  Giraldus  Cambrenesis,  Hist,  of 
the  Cathedral  at  Canterbury. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


79 


into  the  Gothic,  became  prominent,  and  every  form  which 
could  recall  the  Byzantine  was  abandoned.  The  character 
of  this  art  betrayed  itself  in  the  infinite  variety  of  section- 
work  elaborated  upon  geometrical  outlines.  Of  strictly 
floriated  ornamentation,  but  little  appears.  Among  the 
churches  of  this  style,  the  minster  at  Magdeburg  still 
remains  to  attest  the  purity  of  art  in  the  beginning  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  This  edifice  was  begun  under  the 
auspices  of  Bishop  Adalbert,  in  the  year  1208.  History 
has  preserved  the  name  of  Bausak,  who  was  the  master 
builder  of  the  work.1  One  of  the  most  notable  structures 
of  this  epoch  is  the  cathedral  at  Cologne.  This  city  seems 
to  have  possessed  a  minster  as  early  as  the  time  of  Charle- 
magne. In  the  year  1162,  Frederick  L,  in  order  to 
signalize  his  victory  over  the  Milanese,  presented  to  this 
church  a  costly  sarcophagus,  containing  the  relics  of  the 
three  holy  canonized  kings  of  the  East.  This  sacred 
object  attracted  many  noblemen  and  rich  princes,  who, 
together  with  others  equally  pious,  greatly  enriched  the 
cathedral  with  large  sums  of  money.  In  order  that  these 
gifts  might  be  suitably  appropriated,  it  was  decided  to 
erect  a  minster,  which  should  correspond  to  the  dignity 
and  importance  of  such  a  monument.  Engelbrecht,  arch- 
bishop of  Cologne,  desired  to  undertake  the  construction, 
but  his  death,  in  the  year  1225,  rendered  nugatory  the 
design.  A  conflagration  in  1228  destroyed  the  old  cathe- 
dral, and  in  the  same  year  the  archbishop,  Count  of  Hoch- 
steben,  began  a  new  edifice,  the  construction  of  which 
progressed  slowly  until  the  year  1322,  when  the  choir  was 
consecrated.  This  choir  is  the  only  finished  portion  of 
the  structure.  At  various  intervals  the  work  upon  it  was 
resumed,  until  the  sixteenth  century,  when  it  ceased.2 

1  Bischoff  Adalbert  unternahm,  im  Yahr  1208,  einen  neuen  Bau,  dessen 
Baumeister  Bausak  heisz.    Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Bauhunst,  p.  547. 

2  In  the  year  1872,  when  the  author  was  at  Cologne,  the  work  of  completing 
the  minster  was  again  proceeding. 


80 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


Few  names  of  the  artists  who  labored  at  the  building  of 
the  cathedral  have  come  down  to  our  time  —  even  the 
architect  who  planned  this  mighty  fabric  is  unknown. 
The  name  of  Gebhard,  who  was  a  master  of  the  workmen, 
has,  however,  been  rescued  from  oblivion.1 

No  structure  of  this  age  has  been  the  subject  of  so 
many  eulogistic  praises  as  the  Strassburg  cathedral.  Ac- 
cording to  Stieglitz,2  the  original  foundation  of  the 
minster  dates  back  to  the  time  of  Chlovis  L,  who  caused 
a  small  edifice  of  timber,  in  the  year  504,  to  be  erected. 
Through  the  influence  of  Charlemagne,  in  798,  the  choir 
was  constructed  of  stone.  But  this  structure  was  subse- 
quently destroyed,  and  Bishop  Werner  was  the  first  who 
summoned  experienced  operatives  to  draught  the  plans 
for  a  new  building.  The  foundation  was  laid  in  the  year 
1015,  no  doubt  by  Grecian  architects,3  and  the  choir  was 
erected  in  1028.  After  the  bishop's  demise,  for  a  time, 
further  work  ceased.  It  subsequently  progressed  slowly 
to  a  completion  of  the  nave  in  the  year  1275.  The 
names  of  various  masters  who  hitherto  conducted  the 
plans  and  directed  the  artificers  upon  this  cathedral  are 
not  known,  but  the  image  of  one  builder,  who  presided 
over  the  work  on  the  nave,  is  still  visible  in  the  interior 
of  the  building  on  the  transept  wall.4  This  edifice  is  un- 
derstood to  present  the  finest  specimens  of  Gothic  or  Ger- 
manic architecture,  which  attained  its  fullest  perfection 
towards  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century.  At  this 
period,  in  the  year  1277,  Erwin,  of  Steinbach,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  other  master  builders,  laid  the  foundation  for 


1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  567.  2  Ibid.,  p.  572. 

3  Luebke,  Geschichte  der  Architectur,  p.  253,  is  authority  for  the  statement 
that  Greek  architects  were  brought  to  Germany  in  the  eleventh  century,  by 
Bishop  Meinwerk. 

4  Das  Bildniss  des  einen,  der  der  Arbeit  am  Langhause  vorstand,  hat  sich 
im  Innern  des  Munsters  an  der  Mauer  des  einen  Kreuz  Kreuzfliigels,  erhalten. 
Stieglitz,  ut  supra,  p.  573. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


81 


further  additions  to  the  cathedral,  and  resumed  the  com- 
pletion of  unfinished  portions  of  the  work.  Erwin  beau- 
tified some  parts  of  the  older  building,  among  others, 
the  portal  on  the  south  side.  What,  however,  is  most 
singular  and  deeply  interesting  in  reference  to  its  connec- 
tion with  the  history  of  Freemasonry,  is  the  undoubted 
authenticity  of  the  allegation  that  Sabina,1  a  daughter  of 
Erwin  von  Steinbach,  rendered  her  father  valuable  assist- 
ance in  preparing,  with  her  own  hands,  several  columns, - 
which  constitute  the  chief  ornament  of  the  doorway  re- 
ferred to.2  It  would  seem,  from  this  fact,  that  the  fair 
architect  had  received  instruction  in  the  secret  arts,  which 
at  this  time  in  Germany  were  the  almost  exclusive  prop- 
erty of  a  fraternity  of  builders  obligated  to  profound 
secresy,  and  subject  to  severe  penalties  in  case  of  disobedi- 
ence. If  this  be  correct,  a  woman,  so  early  as  the  thir- 
teenth century,  "had  been  made  a  Freemason."  After 
Erwin's  death,  in  the  year  1318,  his  son  John  proceeded 
with  the  work,  and  faithfully  adhered  to  his  father's  plans, 
as  evidenced  by  a  portion  of  the  same  still  preserved  on 
parchment  in  the  archives  of  the  minster.  On  the  de- 
cease of  this  master  builder,  his  successors  abandoned  the 
original  designs  of  Erwin,  which  a  want  of  harmony  be- 
tween the  two  sections  of  architecture  manifestly  shows. 

1  The  curious  reader  may  find  some  additional  facts  in  Krause,  Die  D.ei 
celtesten  Kunsterkunden,  Bd.  II.,  Abt.  2,  p.  241,  and  authorities  cited. 

2  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  573.  A  majority  of  mediaeval  guilds 
freely  admitted  women  to  share  the  privileges  of  membership.  In  case  of 
the  admission  of  a  member's  wife,  the  fees  of  entrance  were  reduced,  but  an 
unmarried  woman  paid  the  same  price  as  the  men.  See  Return  of  the  Guild  of 
Gallkhith,  made  in  the  year  1389,  published  in  Smith's  English  Guilds,  No.  1. 
York  Lodge,  Eng.,  possesses  a  manuscript  of  the  year  1693  containing  regu- 
lations for  the  craft,  in  which  the  following  appears : 

"  Thee  one  of  the  elders  takeing  the  Booke 
And  that  Jiee  or  shee  that  is  to  be  made  Mason,"  etc. 

I  have  seen  this  manuscript,  and  believe  it  correctly  printed  by  Hughan,  Old 
Masonic  Charges,  p.  15. 

F 


82 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


Steinbach's  son  John  was  succeeded  by  other  masters, 
who  pushed  the  work  with  great  activity,  until  John 
Hiiltz,  a  master  of  Cologne  Masons,  about  the  year  1439, 
brought  the  south  tower  to  completion.  In  the  year 
1494,  the  minster  received  a  new  portal  on  the  north  side, 
wrought  out  by  John  of  Landshut,  which  is  justly  cele- 
brated on  account  of  its  delicate  workmanship.1 

Another  masterpiece  of  Gothic  or  Teutonic  art,  the 
work  of  medieval  Freemasons,  is  visible  in  the  church  of 
Saint  Stephen  at  Vienna.  Originally  founded  in  1144, 
about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  it  was  par- 
tially destroyed  by  fire.  In  the  year  1359  the  founda- 
tions of  the  principal  towers  which  adorn  the  cathedral 
were  laid,  under  the  superintendence  of  a  master  builder 
by  the  name  of  Winzla.  Hans  Buchsbaum,  as  supervising 
architect,  completed  one  of  these  in  1433.  This  master 
carried  forward  the  construction  of  other  portions  of  the 
edifice.  At  his  death,  in  the  year  1459,  Anton  Pilgram 
assumed  his  duties.  On  one  of  the  columns  to  the  rear  of 
the  chancel,  a  sculptured  portraiture  of  Master  Buchsbaum 
is  still  visible.  This  dexterous  artist  furnished  the  work- 
manship for  this  chancel,  and  presided  over  a  lodge  of 
skilled  operatives,  who  worked  out  the  details  in  accord- 
ance with  his  plans.2  The  church  of  Saint  Lawrence, 
at  Nurnburg,  is  preeminently  the  handiwork  of  German 
architects.  Founded  in  1274,  it  was  successively  enlarged 
by  additions  until  the  year  1419,  when  the  choir  founda- 
tions were  laid,  and  in  1422  it  was  completed.  Conrad 
Wintzer,  of  Regensburg,  furnished  the  diagrams,  and  his 
cousin,  Hans  Bauer,  of  Ochsenfurt,  as  master  of  the 
builders,  executed  the  plans.3 


1  Stieglitz,  Geschickte  der  Baukunst,  p.  574. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  581.  ' 


2  Ibid.,  p.  576. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Constructive  Art  in  Italy  —  Cathedral  at  Pisa  Built  by  Eastern 
Architects — Buschetto,  Master  Builder  —  Italian  Craftsmen 
of  this  Epoch  —  Ecclesiastic  or  Dominican  Masons — Teutonic 
Masters  in  Italy  —  Bridge- Builders  —  Guilds  of  Freemasons 
or  Stonecutters  in  Florence  — Fra  Guilelmo  Works  in  a  Ma«- 
sonic  Lodge  at  Santa  Croce  —  German  Masters  —  Lodge  of 
Masons  at  Orvieto  in  the  Thirteenth  Century  —  Italian 
Magistri  Lapidum  —  General  or  Grand  Master  Architect  oP 
the  Florentine  Campanile  —  Italy  Imitates  the  Architecture 
of  Germanic  Masters,  Imported  thither  to  Construct  Cathe- 
drals. 

T  the  close  of  the  tenth  century,  Italy  was  so*  fair 
behind  the  nations  of  the  North  that  when,  iA 
the  year  976,  Venice,  or  rather  Pierre  Orseola, 
conceived  the  project  of  rebuilding  Saint  Marc's, 
Grecian  artists  were  imported  to  lay  the  foundations.1 
Scarcely  had  Venice  finished  its  cathedral,  when  Pis& 
desired  to  have  one  also.  Several  Tuscan  vessels,  launched 
upon  the  sea  for  other  conquests  than  those  of  war,  brought 
from  Greece  an  infinite  number  of  monuments,  statuettes', 
bas-reliefs,  chapters,  columns,  and  divers  fragments  of 
Oriental  workmanship.    The  enthusiasm  became  genera^. 

1  En  977  Venise,  jetait  les  fondaraents  de  la  basilique  de  Saint  Marc,  bati^e 
par  des  architectes  qu'elle  avait  appeles  de  la  Grece.  Emeric  David,  Histoire 
de  la  Peinture  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  85.  Lacroix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  360, 
says  this  cathedral  was  begun  in  976,  by  Pierre  Orseols,  doge  de  Venise,  qui 
se  vit  oblige"  de  faire  venir  des  architectes  et  des  artistes  de  Constantinople. 
According  to  Daru,  Histoirede  Venise,  St.  Marco  was  erected  upon  the  founda- 
tions of  a  church  previously  destroyed. 

S3 


84 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


In  the  year  1016,  or  1063,  according  to  David,1  Buschetto, 
who  had  accompanied  this  precious  cargo,  superintended 
the  construction  of  the  cathedral.2  This  artist,  nobly 
encouraged,  formed,  it  is  alleged,  an  institution  or  lodge 
of  sculpture,  which  was  perpetuated  during  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years,  and  which  ultimately  produced  the  dis- 
tinguished artisan,  Nicholas  Pisano,  who  had  the  honor, 
by  his  influence,  to  reestablish  in  Italy  the  more  essential 
rules  of  art.3 

The  disciples  of  Buschetto,  accepting  the  commanding 
impulses  of  their  master,  transfused  his  ideas  into  build- 
ing art,  which  rapidly  spread  throughout  the  peninsula. 
Under  their  active  zeal,  the  cathedrals  of  Amain,  of  Pis- 
toja,  Sienna,  and  Lucca,  were  constructed  in  a  style  which 
betrays  a  Byzantine  influence  totally  opposed  to  the  semi- 
Gothic  minster  of  Milan.4  Nicholas  Pisano,  towards  the 
close  of  the  twelfth  century,  had,  by  an  assiduous  study 
of  the  remnants  of  antique  sculpture,  opened  the  surest 
way  to  a  full  development  of  sound  principles  and  the 
perfecting  of  an  accurate  taste.  Nicholas  attained  to  a 
high  degree  of  skill  as  a  plastic  artist.    Marchione,  who 

,  1  Histoire  de  la  Peinture  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  115;  Vasari,  Proem,  delle  Vite  del 
Pittori  e  Architetti,  Tomo  I.,  p.  lxxij.,  etc.,  says  the  foundations  of  the  Pisan 
cathedral  were  laid  in  1016,  but  the  time  assigned  by  David,  in  the  text  above, 
is  supported  by  Von  Raumer,  Geschickte  der  Hohenstaufen,  Bd.  VI.,  p.  491. 
Milizia,  Memorie  degli  Architetti  antichi  e  moderni,  Tomo  IV.,  p.  134,  has  fol- 
lowed Vasari's  date.  Also  so  assigned  by  Lacroix,  Les  Arts,  etc.,  p.  366.  David, 
ut  supra,  p.  115,  says  that  Buschetto  etait  un  des  artistes  grecs  les  plus  habiles 
de  son  temps,  but,  Von  Raumer,  loc.  cit.,  denies  the  Byzantine  nativity  of  that 
architect.  Milizia,  Ibid.,  maintains  the  Grecian  birth  of  the  Pisan  church- 
builder.  As  we  have  already  shown  from  Mueller,  Archceologie  der  Kunst,  p. 
224,  Greek  artists  were  in  constant  intercourse  with  their  native  land  until  a 
late  period  of  the  Middle  Ages.  There  is,  therefore,  every  reason  to  assume  that 
Buschetto,  as  many  other  Eastern  architects  at  this  epoch,  found,  in  the  grow- 
ing state  of  Western  art,  a  readier  and  more  lucrative  employment  for  his 
artistic  talents  than  was  offered  in  the  rapidly  declining  empire  of  Byzantium. 

8  Lacroix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  366. 

8  Emeric  David,  Histoire  de  la  Peinture  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  115. 

*  Lacroix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  366. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


85 


was  his  rival,  has  left  his  name  hewn  upon  the  portal  of 
the  church  at  Arezzo,  erected  in  the  year  1216.1  Giovanni,3 
a  son  of  Nicholas  Pisano,  was  also  distinguished  as  a  master 
builder,  and  in  abandoning  the  stilted  types  which  had 
prevailed  for  many  ages,  elevated  architectural  art  above 
a  dry,  mechanical  execution,  and,  by  imparting  that  indi- 
viduality and  idealistic  expression  which,  already  obtained 
among  the  German  stonecutters,  indicated  the  way  to  sub- 
lime conceptions  in  accordance  with  natural  rules.  Among 
the  more  distinguished  pupils  who  worked  under  the  in- 
struction of  this  celebrated  master,  are  enumerated  Agos- 
tino  of  Sienna  and  Giotto,  the  latter  of  surpassing  dex- 
terity both  as  architect  and  sculptor,  whose  name  and 
works  Dante  has  consigned  to  undying  immortality.3 
Florence,  as  a  city  of  fine  arts,  became  one  of  the  central 
points  of  architecture  and  statuary.4 

The  earliest  cultivators  of  the  fine  arts  of  whom  the 
history  of  the  preacher  monks 5  makes  mention,  were  two 
religious  brethren,  Fra  Sisto  and  Fra  Ristoro,  members  of 
the  convent  of  Santa  Maria  Novella  ;  the  former  was  a 
native  of  Florence,  the  latter  was  born  seven  miles  distant 
from  that  city.  According  to  the  conjecture  of  Marchese,* 
founded  upon  the  necrologium  of  the  cloister,  they  were 
born  between  the  years  1220  and  1225,  fifteen  or  twenty 
years  prior  to  Cimabue.  From  whom  they  obtained  their 
instruction  in  architectural  art  is  uncertain.    It  is  sup- 

1  Lacroix,  Ibid.,  p.  370;  Tirabosch i, Storia  della  Lett.  Ital.,Tomo  IV.,  p.  491. 

2  Vasari,  Vile  dei  Pittori  e  Architetti,  Torao  I.,  p.  262,  awards  unusual  praise 
to  this  master  builder ;  also  Tiraboschi,  ut  supra,  p.  492. 

3  Ed  ora  ha  Giotto  il  grido, 
Si  che  farua  di  colui  oscura. 

Dante,  Purgatorio,  Canto  XI.,  st.  96. 

4  Lacroix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  371 ;  Machiavelli,  Istorie  Florentine, 
Torao  I.,  pp.  402-3.  Further  in  this  connection,  Maffei,  Storia  Lefteratura 
Italiana,  Lib.  I.,  cap.  i.,  and  Balbo,  Vita  di  Dante,  Lib.  L,  cap.  i.  and  ii. 

5  The  Dominicans  were  justly  renowned  as  architects.  Luebke,  Geschichte 
der  Plastik,  p.  451. 

6  Vie  dei  Pittori  Scultori  e  Architetti  Domenicani,  Tomo  I.,  p.  31. 

8 


86 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


posed,  however,  that  Nicholas  Pisano  contributed,  in  some 
degree,  to  their  artistic  knowledge.  The  two  most  cele- 
brated architects,  who  divided  the  highest  attainments  in 
this  art  at  that  period,  were  Nicholas  of  Pisa  and  a  master 
builder  named  Jacopo.1  The  latter  of  these  was  a  Ger- 
man,2 and,  early  in  the  thirteenth  century,  constructed  the 
church  and  convent  of  San  Francisco,  at  Assisi,  and 
erected,  according  to  his  own  diagrams,  the  church  of  San 
Salvadore.  If  we  may  give  credence  to  the  assertion  of 
Marchese,3  Fra  Sisto  and  Fra  Ristoro  profited  by  the  ex- 
ample and  counsels  of  the  German  stonemason,  Jacopo. 
The  earliest  essay  of  these  young  master  architects  was 
in  the  rebuilding  of  certain  bridges,  which  had  been  de- 
stroyed in  consequence  of  heavy  inundations  caused  by 
the  Arno  overflowing  its  banks.4  It  is  stated  that  the 
stone  columns  used  in  the  construction  of  these  bridges, 
were  placed  into  position  with  such  mathematical  skill, 
that  they  resisted  the  deluging  rainstorms  of  1282-4-8. 
In  the  year  1256,  Fra  Sisto  and  Fra  Ristoro,  with  whom 
a  third  monk  was  associated,  Fra  Domenico  by  name,  in 
connection,  it  is  said,  with  other  operative  masons  or 
stonecutters,  assisted  in  erecting  the  cathedral  of  Santa 
Novella.5  In  the  construction  of  this  second  edifice, 
Fra  Sisto  and  Fra  Ristoro  were  selected  as  masters  of  the 
work.  Under  the  superintendence  of  these  brethren,  other 
excellent  Masons  aided  in  the  building,  who,  as  assistant 

1  Marchese,  Ibid.,  p.  31. 

2  Vasari,  Vite  dei  Pittori  e  Architetti,  Tomo  I.,  p.  251,  boldly  asserts  the 
German  nativity  of  Jacopo,  and  designates  the  style  of  architecture  employe^ 
in  building  the  above  church  as  Opus  Theutonicum.  Tiraboschi,  Sloria  della 
Letleratura  Italiana,  Tomo  IV.,  p.  490,  does  not,  however,  accede  willingly  to 
this  statement. 

s  8  Vie  dei  Architetti,  etc.,  Tomo  I.,  p.  32. 

]  4  This  fact  is  also  mentioned  by  Tiraboschi,  Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana, 
Tomo  IV.,  p.  491,  who  also  says  that  subsequently  they  constructed  the  in- 
ferior vault  of  the  Vatican  palace  at  Rome. 

8  Parecchi  altri  loro  confratelli,  excellenti  muratori  e  scarpelini,  condussero 
la  fabbrica.    Marchese,  ut  supra,  p.  44, 


ANTIQ UITIES  OF  FREEMA  SONR  Y.  87 

supervisors  of  the  work  and  directors  of  the  details  of 
labor,  exhibited  great  proficiency  in  architecture.  These 
belonged  to  the  same  convent,  and  were  ecclesiastics.  We 
are  informed  by  the  writer,1  whom  we  have  closely  fol- 
lowed, that  the  building  was  so  exclusively  the  handicraft 
of  ecclesiastical  operatives,  that  but  one  other  instance  is 
on  record,  viz.,  the  church  and  monastery  of  Dunes,  which 
the  Cistercian  fathers  constructed  entirely  with  their  own 
hands.2  The  church  of  Santa  Novella,  in  a  striking  de- 
gree, is  the  embodiment  of  perspective  art.  The  building 
is  in  the  form  of  a  Latin  cross  —  a  favorite  plan  in  those 
ages  —  and  by  the  successful  combination  of  diminishing 
and  contracting  arches,  which  support  the  roof,  tapering 
to  the  ends,  presents  a  deceptive  vista.  These  monks  were 
regarded,  by  their  Italian  contemporaries,  among  the  most 
proficient  artists  of  that  era.3 

The  religious  fervor  which  swept  through  Italy  early  in 
the  thirteenth  century,  under  the  dexterous  manipulation 
of  the  Dominican  monks  assumed  the  form  of  a  pious 
frenzy  for  building  and  consecrating  sacred  edifices.  Men 
and  women  were  inspired  by  a  zeal  to  promote  this  object 
to  such  extent,  that  they  transported  with  their  own  hands 
much  material  for  the  construction  of  a  church  and  con- 
vent at  Bologna,  in  the  year  1233.    Of  the  work  itself,  Fra 

1  Marchese,  Ibid.,  loc.  cit.,  senza  1' inter vento  di  alcun  artifice  secolare.  This 
will  serve  to  show  how  thoroughly  skilled  the  monastic  brethren  became,  and 
how  completely  the  building  art  was  known  to  the  clerics  even  so  late  as  the 
opening  of  the  thirteenth  century,  at  a  period  when  builders  were  organized 
into  lay  corporations  and  had  left  the  monasteries. 

2  I  Padri  Cicerstensi  fiamminghi  ce  ne  porgono  un  consimile  esempio,  i 
quali  nella  fabbrica  della  chiesa  e  monastero  di  Dunes  non  adoperarano  che 
artifici  propri.  Milizia,  Memorie  degli  Architetti  antichi  e  moderni.  Lib.  II., 
cap.  2 ;  also,  Marchese,  Vie  dei  Architetti,  Tomo  I.,  p.  44. 

3  In  the  conventual  necrologue  cited  by  Marchese,  ubi  supra,  p.  52,  Fra 
Ristoro  is  thus  spoken  of :  "hie  fuit  maximus  architectus,"  and  "una  cum 
fratre  Sixto,  fecerunt  nostram  ecclesiam  tanto  siquidem  artificio,  ut  usque  hodie 
sit  in  admirationem."  Two  of  the  Florentine  churches,  the  Duomo  and  Santa 
Croce,  have  well-defined  Masonic  marks,  to  which  reference  will  be  made  here- 
after.   Vide  Part  II.,  cap.  30,  etc. 


88 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


Jacopino,  a  Dominican  by  profession,  was  selected  as  master 
builder.1  The  enthusiasm  displayed  for  the  erection  of 
houses  of  divine  worship  at  this  time  in  Terugia,  drew 
together  a  vast  number  of  master  architects,  stonecutters, 
and  others,  who  were  thoroughly  qualified  to  preside  over 
the  operatives.  It  would  appear,  however,  that  the  great 
mass  of  labor  was  performed  by  the  Dominicans  themselves. 
Three  lay  architects  are  designated  by  Marchese2  as  re- 
markably skilled  in  Masonic  labors  at  this  period  in  Tus- 
cany, viz.,  Mazzetto,  Borghese,  and  Albertino  Mazzanto, 
the  second  of  whom  was  an  apprentice  under  the  master- 
ship of  Fra  Sisto  and  Fra  Eistoro.  Borghese,  who  was 
born  in  Florence,  in  the  year  1250,  also  received  instruction 
in  the  mysteries  of  Masonic  art  under  the  direction  of  a 
master  architect  named  Ugolino.  And  when,  in  the  year 
1284  or  thereabouts,  the  master  builders  at  the  church  of 
Santa  Maria  Novella  were  ordered  to  Rome  to  labor  in  the 
construction  of  the  Vatican,3  Master  Borghese  was  found 
competent  to  assume  the  direction  of  the  workmen,  in  con- 
junction with  Albertino,  another  master  mason.4  Accord- 
ing to  Lacroix,5  numerous  guilds  of  Masons  were  assembled 
at  Florence  towards  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century, 

1  Et  tunc  frater  Jacobinus  superstabat  ad  laboreia  praedicta  facienda. 
Muratori,  Rer.  Ital.  Script.,  Tomo  VIII.,  p.  1108.  Also  Marchese,  ubi  supra, 
p.  54,  etc. 

2  Con  l'opera  di  tre  laici  architetti  di  quello  stesso  convento.  Vie  dei  Archi- 
telti,  etc.,  Tomo  I.,  p.  54.  The  preceding  citation  is  of  great  significance,  as 
showing  that  in  Italy,  in  1233,  there  were  lay  architects  or  Master  Masons 
Ptill  domiciled  under  the  control  of  particular  church  organizations.  Of 
Borghese,  the  author  quoted,  says :  Dei  quali  soltanto  il  seconde,  pote  essere 
allievo  di  Fra  Sisto  e  Fra  Eistoro.  Ibid.,  p.  55. 

3  Tiraboschi,  Storia  delta  Letteratura  Italiana,  Tomo  IV.,  p.  491. 

4  Marchese,  Vie  dei  Architetti,  Tomo  L,  p.  59.  From  the  convent  necro- 
logue we  learn  that  this  artist  was  the  son  of  a  celebrated  architect:  filius 
olim  magistri  Ugolini  Carpentaria 

6  Vers  la  fin  du  treizieme  siecle  an  Florence  se  rennissaient  les  confreries, 
etc.  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  371.  See  Machiavelli,  Istorie  Fiorentine,  Tomo  I.t 
p.  402,  etc. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


89 


and  were  employed  in  the  construction  of  churches  and 
other  public  edifices.  At  this  period  Fra  Guilelmo,  who 
had  received  the  rudiments  of  artistic  knowledge  from  his 
distinguished  master,  Nicholas  Pisano,  was  not  only  re- 
nowned as  an  architect,  but  attained  to  an  exalted  celebrity 
by  reason  of  the  exquisite  workmanship  which  he  displayed 
as  a  stonecutter  on  the  arch  of  San  Dominico,  at  Bologna.1 
On  the  13th  of  November,  in  the  year  1290,  the  foundation 
stone  of  the  cathedral  at  Orvieto  was  laid,  amid  imposing 
and  solemn  rites,  conducted  by  his  holiness  the  Pope,  Nich- 
olas IV.  Lorenzo  Maitani,  a  native  of  Sienna,  draughted 
the  designs,  and  was  declared  master  architect  of  the  work. 
It  being  desired  that  this  temple  should  shine  with  all  the 
resplendent  effulgence  of  art,  from  all  parts  of  Italy  the 
most  efficient  artists  were  invited  to  assist  in  its  construc- 
tion. In  obedience  to  the  mandate,  skilled  artificers  to 
the  number  of  forty  assembled  in  Orvieto  ;  among  those 
whose  names  are  mentioned  as  unusually  expert,  are  Arnolfo2 
and  Fra  Guilelmo  ;  the  name  of  the  latter  stands  registered 
in  the  cathedral  memorial  of  the  year  1293.  Arnolfo,  early 
in  the  year  1294,  abandoned  Orvieto  in  order  to  assist  in  lay- 
ing the  corner-stone  of  the  Santa  Croce3  church  in  Florence, 
the  plans  and  design  of  which  he  had  prepared.  Guilelmo, 
according  to  the  record  of  the  operatives  quoted  by  Mar- 
chese,4  worked  in  a  lodge  designed  for  sculptors  and  stone- 

1  Guilelmo  Pisano,  in  addition  to  his  Masonic  excellence,  distinguished  him- 
self by  the  secret  theft  of  one  of  St.  Dominic's  ribs,  which,  by  mediaeval  re- 
ligious superstition,  was  invested  with  supernal  powers.  This  petty  crime. 
Marchese,  Vie  dei  Archiletti,  Tomo  I.,  p.  87,  dignifies  as  a  pious  fraud,  —  pio 
furto. 

2  Vasari,  Vite  dei  Architetti  e  Piltori,  Tomo  I.,  p.  254,  says  it  was  believed 
that  Arnolfo  was  the  son  of  the  celebrated  Master  Mason  Jacopo,  above 
mentioned.    See  Tiraboschi,  Storia  delta  Letteratura,  Tomo  IV-,  pp.  489-491. 

3  Tiraboschi,  ut  supra,  p.  491.  In  the  niches  on  one  of  the  facades  of  the 
minstei",  are  life-size  figures  in  Masonic  attitudes. 

4  Sotto  Panno  1293,  egli  lavorava  nella  loggia  destinata  agli  scultori  e  egli 
scarpellini.    Vie  dei  Architetti,  etc.,  Tomo  T.,  p.  90. 


90 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


cutters.  Among  the  artificers  employed  in  other  lodges  of 
workmen  who  labored  in  the  erection  of  the  temple  at 
Orvieto,  were  a  German  and  a  Flemish  artist.1  Fazio,  an 
apprentice  of  Guilelmo,  named  in  the  conventual  roll  of 
Santa  Caterina,  of  Pisa,  is  referred  to  as  a  layman  and 
magister  sculpture.  By  the  assiduous  labors  of  the  Dominican 
artisans  and  master  architects,  the  church  of  Saints  John 
and  Paul,  at  Venice,  which  was  commenced  in  1246,  ad- 
vanced rapidly  to  completion  during  a  few  years  ;  but  the 
necessary  contributions  failing,  labor  ceased  until  the  year 
1395,  when,  moved  by  an  extraordinary  zeal,  twenty  thou- 
sand florins  were  donated  by  an  enthusiastic  people,  and  this 
structure,  one  of  the  most  elegant  in  Venice,  was  finished. 
Late  in  the  thirteenth  century  the  foundations  were  laid  for 
a  Dominican  church  in  Milan,  the  construction  of  which  was 
superintended  by  .  masters  of  that  order.  It  was  completed 
in  1309.  As  a  noteworthy  fact,  it  is  stated  that  the  first 
clock  for  public  use  in  Italy  was  placed  in  the  bell-tower 
of  Saint  Eustorgis,  in  this  city  (Milan),  in  the  year  1306. 

There  is  every  reason  to  assume  that  guilds  of  Masons 
were  already  established  in  Italy,  on  a  solid  basis,  during 
the  thirteenth  century.  The  first  modern  building  frater- 
nities2 in  Italy  of  which  history  has  preserved  a  notice,  were 
in  existence  at  Sienna  and  Orvieto.  At  Orvieto,  as  we  have 
already  shown,  a  builders'  lodge  was  held,  while  work  was 
in  progress  on  the  cathedral  there,  in  the  year  1290.  Stieg- 
litz3  asserts  that  a  lodge  of  Masons  existed  in  this  place4 
while  at  labor  on  the  minster,  and  that  they  were  under 

1  March ese,  Vie  dei  Architetti,  loc.  ext. 

2  I  use  the  word  "  modern  "  in  the  above  connection  in  order  to  distinguish 
between  the  mediaeval  builders  and  the  Byzantine  corporations. 

3  Oeschichte  der  Baukumt,  p.  607.  He  refers  to  Cicagnara,  Storia  della  Scul- 
tura,  Tomo  I.,  p.  363,  as  authority  for  the  statement  that  building  corporations 
are  first  mentioned  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

*  An  dem  letzeren  Orte  (Orvieto)  bildete  sich  eine  Bauloge  bei  dem  Baue 
des  Domes,  deren  Haupt  im  Anfange  des  dreizehnten  Yahrhunderts,  ein 
Deutscher  war,  Peter  Johannes.    Stieglitz,  Ibid. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


the  jurisdiction  of  a  German  master  named  Peter  Johannes, 
and  moreover  that  there  were  other  Germans  in  this  Lodge.1 
Upon  what  authority  this  is  asserted,  I  know  not.2  Mar- 
chese,  who,  so  far  as  the  history  of  architecture  in  Italy  in 
the  Middle  Ages  is  concerned,  is  incontestably  entitled  to 
greater  weight,  informs  us  that  the  foundation  of  the 
Orvieto  cathedral  was  laid  in  the  year  1290.  He  mentions 
the  name  of  a  Giovanni  (Johannes)  Pisano,  who  worked 
there,  but  asserts  that  Lorenzo  Maitani  was  the  master  who 
had  jurisdiction,  and  the  only  foreign  artificers  employed 
were  of  German  and  Flemish  nativity  —  one  of  eaph.3 

1  The  word  Lodge  is,  perhaps,  immediately  derived  from  the  Norman- 
French,  and  was  apparently  imported  into  England  by  French  artists 
shortly  after  the  conquest.  Loggia,  Italian,  is  evidently  closely  allied  to  the 
French  loge.  Vitruvius  uses  the  word  logeum  to  signify  the  small  enclosed 
space  where  actors  stood  to  repeat  their  roles,  and  is  identical  with  our  modern 
pulpitum.  Du  Cange,  Glossarium  Med.  et  Infi.  Lat.  sub  voce  logium,  gives  it 
the  same  meaning  as  aedes,  habitalo,  domicilium,  or  dwellings,  and  says  the 
houses  of  the  ancient  Gauls  were  called  logia.  Fecit  logias,  magnae  habilitatis 
ad  aulas  in  capellam.  And  eorum  logice  quando  dormient  seu  quiescent.  Ibid. 
Merchants  designated  the  place  where  their  wares  were  exposed  for  sale  as 
logia.  In  the  mediaeval  metrical  romance  of  Kyng  Alisander,  the  word  occurs 
to  describe  a  tent  or  temporary  resting-place,  which  was,  no  doubt,  its  signi- 
fication among  the  nomadic  Freemasons: 

"  Alisaunder  doth  crye  wyde, 
His  logges  set  on  the  water  syde," 

V.  4925.  Chaucer  uses  this  word  in  Canterbury  Tales :  "  Full  sikerer  was  his 
crowing  in  his  loge."  The  Anglo-Saxon  /oca,  whence  lock  signifies  an  en- 
closure as  a  guard  or  preserve.  Beowulf,  V.  1106  ed.  Thorpe,  Glossary,  sub 
voce.  Hutte,  the  Teutonic  word  for  lodge,  possesses  ne'arly  the  same  meaning 
as  the  Saxon  loca,  and  is  a  derivative  of  hiiten,  to  guard,  to  surround  for  pres- 
ervation. Hat,  German  hut,  head-guard  or  protector,  and  hutte,  an  enclosed 
space  for  protection,  a  building  to  guard  or  preserve  against,  and  loca,  loge, 
are  identical  in  signification.  Hughan,  Constitutions,  p.  xxiii.,  for  early  Eng- 
lish word  loge  of  A.  D.  1370. 

2  Perhaps  on  the  authority  of  Vasari,  Vile  degli  Architetti,  Tomo  I.,  pp. 
244-251. 

3  Marchese,  Vie  dei  Architetti,  Tomo  I.,  p.  90.  Di  tutti  qui  tedeschi  recordati 
dal  Vasari  come  occupati  en  scolpire  marmi  per  quella  basilica,  non  fu  travato 
memoria  nell  'archivo  della  fabbrica,  che  di  solo  allemano  e  di  un  fiam- 
mingo.  See  Tiraboschi,  Storia  della  Letter.  Ital.,  Tomo  IV.,  p.  492,  note  (a), 
for  some  remarks  touching  German  artists  in  Italy  at  this  period. 


92 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


At  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the  work  on 
the  Santa  Maria  Novella  church,  in  Florence,  which  had 
steadily  progressed  up  to  that  time,  was  pushed  on  with 
great  rapidity  by  two  lay  architects,  Giovanni  da  Campo 
and  Jacopo  Talenti,  the  first  of  whom  was  educated  in  the 
fine  arts  by  Arnolfo,  one  of  the  masters,  as  we  have  seen, 
working  with  Fra  Guilelmo  in  Orvieto.  Jacopo  Talenti 
appears  to  have  labored  at  the  building  of  the  Orvieto  tem- 
ple, as  mention  is  made  of  a  certain  Francesco  Talenti,  a 
Florentine,  who,  in  the  year  1327,  was  enrolled  among  the 
recorded  lists  of  stonecutters  and  sculptors,  with  the  pay 
of  a  master  mason,  and  who  was  in  fact  denominated  as  one 
of  the  masters  of  the  architects  employed  in  the  lodges. 
The  usual  alteration  made  in  assuming  monastic  vows  will 
account  for  such  change  of  names.  In  the  convent  necro- 
logue of  the  Dominicans,  Jacopo  is  designated  as  magister 
lapidum,  master  mason,  a  title  which  was  generally  assigned 
to  sculptors  and  stonecutters  of  that  age.  A  brother  or 
nephew  of  Jacopo,  who  worked  in  the  construction  of  the 
library  of  Santa  Maria  Novella,  is  also  called  master  mason.1 
The  floriated  and  exquisitely  chiselled  chapters  of  the  col- 
umns, together  with  the  ornamentation  on  the  antique 
portals  and  windows  of  this  church,  are  the  undoubted 
handiwork  of  Jacopo.  On  the  death  of  Albertino,  Giovanni 
da  Campo  assumed  the  entire  mastership  of  the  work,  with 
the  aid  and  counsel  of  Jacopo.  Under  their  united  direction 
this  edifice  was  completed  in  1357.  Master  Giovanni  super- 
intended the  Dominican  masons  and  stonecutters  at  Florence 
in  the  erection  of  public  buildings  in  that  city.  Perhaps 
the  finest  effort  of  this  celebrated  architect  was  the  stone 
bridge  over  the  river  Arno,  which  he  constructed  with 
consummate  skill.  While  Giovanni  directed  the  work  on 
the  structures  of  the  republic,  Jacopo  Talenti  and  other 


1  In  qualita  di  muratore  un  maestro  Giovanni  Talenti.  Marchese,  Vie  dei 
Architetti,  etc.,  Tomo  I.,  p.  119,  note  (1). 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


93 


Dominican  artists,  were  intently  engaged  on  the  churches 
and  convents.1  In  accordance  with  the  designs  of  Fra 
Sisto  and  Fra  Ristoro,  they  finished,  in  the  year  1330,  the 
great  campanile  or  bell-tower  of  Florence.  These  artists,  the 
year  following,  brought  to  a  termination  the  erection  of 
the  marvellous  chapel  of  Saint  Nicholas,  and  its  classical 
sacristan,  which  was  elaborately  frescoed  with  scenes  by 
Spinello  di  Arezza,  representative  of  the  life  of  Christ. 
Ottaviano  Rustici,  who  was  the  chief  or  general  master 
architect  of  the  work,  is  especially  mentioned  as  deeply 
versed  in  architectural  art.  Under  the  direction  of  Talent i, 
two  operatives,  members  of  the  same  convent,  labored  as 
master  masons,  viz.,  Laopo  Bruschi  and  Francesco  da 
Carmignano. 

By  an  unexpected  inundation  of  the  river  Arno,  on  the 
12th  of  April,  1334,  the  foundation  walls  of  the  old  Do- 
minican convent  were  rendered  unsafe,  and  the  building, 
in  consequence,  became  uninhabitable.  Among  those  who 
materially  assisted  to  erect  a  larger  and  more  elegant 
cloister  for  the  unfortunate  monks,  Giovanni  Infangati 
signalized  himself,  both  by  voluntary  contributions  to- 
wards the  expenses  involved  in  its  construction,  and  by 
the  inestimable  service  afforded  by  a  fraternity  of  builders, 
who,  under  his  supervision,  built  the  south  wing.  Amid 
the  fervent  zeal  which  distinguished  the  progress  of  the 
erection  of  this  monastery,  the  renowned  master  builder, 
Giovanni  da  Campi,  full  of  years  and  honors,  in  the 
year  1339,  ceased  to  exist.  A  pupil,  or  rather  apprentice, 
of  Giovanni,  is  referred  to  in  the  conventual  roll2  of  the 
dead  brethren,  as  skilled  in  architectural  workmanship. 
He  labored  as  a  builder  with  the  craftsmen  in  the  con- 
struction of  Santa  Maria  Novella,  under  the  management 

1  Ibid.,  p.  135.    Designated  as  "  Altri  architetti  e  muratori  Domenicani." 

2  Necrologium,  No.  321,  from  Marchese,  ut  supra,  p.  143:  nam  cum  esset  op- 
timum lignorum  faber  et  carpentarius  perutilis  multa  et  magna  edificiorum 
perfecit  in  diversis  conventibus,  etc. 


94 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


of  Talenti,  and,  like  this  illustrious  artist,  he  fell  a  victim 
before  the  great  pestilence  which,  according  to  Boccaccio,1 
made  its  appearance  and  raged  with  great  violence  in  1340. 
This  terrible  disorder,  which  destroyed  so  many  lives  in 
Tuscany,  also  ravaged  the  Dominican  cloister.  Among  the 
number,  amounting  to  eighty,  who  succumbed  to  the  dis- 
ease in  this  convent,  a  large  proportion  were  already  noted 
as  skilled  builders.  Of  these,  Master  Fillipo  had  attained 
to  a  high  degree  of  dexterity  as  a  mason ;  Matteo  Guiducci 
is  praised  for  his  ability  and  industry  in  architectural 
handicraft,  and  Giacoma  di  Andrea  had  already  made 
himself  illustrious  by  his  skill  in  the  liner  details  of 
stonecutting,  wood-carving,  and  glass  work.2 

German  or  Gothic  architecture  in  the  thirteenth  century 
had  extended  throughout  nearly  all  the  countries  of 
Europe,  with  the  exception  of  Italy,  and  even  there  a 
mixed  style,  involving  the  Teutonic,  seems  to  have  largely 
prevailed.  This  admixture  of  Gothic  and  Byzantine  is 
clearly  visible  in  the  church  of  San  Francisco,  at  Assisi ; 
the  exchange  building  at  Bologna  ;  in  the  Domes  of  Sienna, 
Orvieto  and  Spoleto,  and  also  in  the  Fontaine  Branda,  of 
Sienna.  As  we  have  previously  seen,  in  a  majority  of  the 
places  mentioned,  German  artificers  were  employed  in  the 
lodges  engaged  upon  the  several  edifices.  The  most  strik- 
ing example  of  this  strange  intermingling  of  the  lofty  and 
sublime  with  the  humble  and  diminutive,  is  to  be  seen  in 
the  cathedral  of  Milan,  in  which,  however,  the  Gothic 
style  generally  prevails.    Although  there  is  a  redundancy 

1  II  Decameron,  Tomo  I.,  p.  6.  The  Introduzione  to  Boccaccio's  Novels  con- 
tains a  vivid  account  of  this  epidemic.  It  was  during  the  height  of  the 
terrible  pestilence  that  the  tales  which  compose  the  Decameron  were  supposed 
to  be  related  by  a  party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  who  fled  the  city  to  avoid 
the  plague.  This  work  is  said  to  be  the  earliest  of  modern  novels.  See 
Tiraboschi,  Storia  della  Lett.  Italiana,  Tomo  V.,  p.  563. 

2  Fra  Giacoma  di  Andrea  fiorentino,  converso,  ha  lode  di  perito  nei  lavori 
in  pietra,  in  legno  e  in  vetro.  Fra  Laopo  Bruschi  operato  nella  fabbrica  del 
cappellone  di  San  Niccold.    Marchese,  Vie  dei  Arcliitetti,  Tomo  I.,  pp.  144-6. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


95 


of  painted  arches,  tapering  pilasters,  and  sloping  turrets, 
yet  the  Italian  forms  everywhere  obtrude  themselves  upon 
the  notice.  Italy  has  servilely  imitated  the  delicate  elabo- 
ration of  details  of  German  architecture,  without  catching 
an  inspiration  from  the  genuine  spirit  which  produced  it. 
Everywhere  throughout  this  country  the  entire  category 
of  sacred  edifices  displays  but  the  simple  horizontal  prin- 
ciple of  building  science.  Towards  the  close  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  in  the  year  1386,  Duke  Galeazzo  Visconti 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  Milan  cathedral.  The  original 
diagrams,  which  are  said  to  be  still  preserved  in  Milan, 
are  uniformly  ascribed  to  a  German  artist.  Heinrich 
Arler,  of  Germuenden,  to  whom  the  Italians  give  the 
nomenclature  of  Gamodeo,  was,  it  is  alleged,1  the  master 
builder  who  drafted  the  plans.  Other  German  artists 
were  called  by  Visconti  to  Milan  to  assist  in  building  the 
dome  and  its  arches.  The  first  who  came  were  J ohannes 
Fernach,  of  Freiburg,  and  Ulrich  of  Freisingen.  In  the 
year  1486,  the  Duke  stipulated  with  a  master  workman, 
named  Hammerer,  of  Strassburg,  to  construct  the  cupola 
crowning  the  tower.2  In  Rome  there  are  some  tabernacles 
in  Gothic  style,  particularly  in  the  basilika  of  Saint  Paul, 
Saint  Clemens,  the  churches  of  Saint  Nereus  and  Saint 
Achilles.  The  first  of  these  is  the  most  distinguished  for 
its  excellent  workmanship.  The  master  builder  superin- 
tending it  is  claimed  to  have  been  a  German,  Jacob  by 


1  The  author  of  11  Duomo  di  Milano,  which  is  a  critical  history  of  the 
cathedral,  published  at  Milan  in  1813,  concedes  the  German  nativity  of  the 
artist.  Hawkins,  History  of  the  Origin  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  194,  says  the 
architect's  name  is  unknown,  and  supposes  him  to  beCasaOmedea  —  perhaps 
the  same  as  Gamodeo  —  because  there  is  a  portrait  of  this  artist  in  bas-relief 
over  the  choir,  with  his  name  beneath  it. 

2  Hammerer  was  selected  as  master  builder  of  the  work :  Werkmeister 
zur  Erbanung  der  Gewolbe.  Stieglitz,  GeschichU  der  Baukunst,  p.  599.  Hans 
Hammerer  appears  to  have  been  at  this  period  a  distinguished  Mason  among 
the  craft  in  Germany. 


96 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


name,  whom  the  Italians  designate  as  Arnolpho  Lope.1 
Naples,  also,  appears  to  have  been  indebted  to  master 
builders  conversant  with  the  Gothic  art,  as  some  edifices 
in  this  city  possess  the  pointed  Germanic  arch.2 

1  This  is  the  Arnolfo  referred  to  above,  who,  it  is  claimed,  was  a  son  of  the 
German  builder  Jacopo.  Tiraboschi,  Storia  della  Letter atura  ltd.,  Tomo  IV., 
p.  491,  note  (a),  denies  his  foreign  birth. 

2  Stieglitz,  Gesch.  der  Baukunst,  p.  599. 


CHAPTER  X. 


Spanish  Builders — The  Netherlands  early  Receive  the  Impetus 
of  Teutonic  Art  —  Builders  from  Cologne  and  Strassburg 
Employed  there  —  German  Masters  in  Scandinavia  —  Germany 
Radiates  Gothic  Types  into  France  —  Notre  Dame  de  Paris 
Built  by  Jean  de  Chelles,  Master  Mason. 

PAIN,  in  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, received  the  impetus  of  German  art.1  The 
cathedrals  at  Segovia,  Toledo,  and  Burgos  are 
the  principal  structures  of  this  style  —  the  last 
is  especially  distinguished  as  a  master-piece.  The  founda- 
tions of  this  church  were  laid  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  at  a  later  period  it  was  finished  by  German  masons2 
in  the  Gothic  style.  These  artists  were  Master  Johannes 
and  his  son,  Simon  of  Cologne,  whom  the  bishop  of  Bur- 
gos, Alphons,  on  his  return  from  the  ecclesiastical  council 
at  Basel,  convened  in  the  year  1442,  invited  to  follow  him, 
in  order  that  they  might  complete  the  cathedral.  This 
edifice  presents  a  striking  similarity  with  the  Cologne 

1  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  cap.  xli. 

2  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  457,  is  authority  for  this  assertion. 
It  appears,  however,  that  at  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century  (1090-9),  French 
artists  were  called  to  Spain  to  assist  in  rebuilding  church  edifices.  Luebke, 
Geschichte  der  Architectur,  p.  442.  It  is  probable  that  the  Spanish  archbishops 
were  brought  in  contact  with  the  fraternities  of  Freemasons  through  their 
attendance  upon  the  great  church  convocations  in  foreign  lands.  See  Hawkins, 
History  of  the  Origin  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  148. 

9  G  97 


98 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


minster,  and,  in  many  of  its  details  and  plans,  is  iden- 
tical with  the  cathedral  of  Strassburg.1  These  master 
builders  are  said  to  have  drafted  the  diagrams  in  accord- 
ance with  which  the  Carthusian  cloister  was  constructed 
in  the  city  of  Burgos,  and,  from  the  similitude2  in  its 
execution,  attests  a  close  unity  existing  between  the  Free- 
masons of  Germany  and  other  countries  at  this  epoch.  Por- 
tugal also  possesses  a  notable  specimen  of  Gothic  art  in 
the  church  of  Batalha.  It  is  alleged  that  this  building 
was  founded,  towards  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
by  King  John  L,  who  summoned  thither  a  great  number 
of  builders3  to  aid  in  its  construction,  together  with  a 
cloister  united  to  it.  Among  the  architects  employed 
upon  this  building  about  the  year  1378,  the  records  show 
the  name  of  one  Hacket,  a  native  of  Ireland,  who  was 
undoubtedly  a  member  of  a  travelling  fraternity  of  Free- 
masons, and  certainly  had  not,  at  that  epoch,  derived  his 
designs  from  the  land  of  his  birth.4  Notwithstanding 
this  church,  in  its  details,  has  an  entire  Germanic  archi- 
tectural type,  there  is  a  singular  paucity  of  ornament.5 
About  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  Portugal8 
seems  to  have  possessed  a  few  religious  artificers,  who 
have  been  handed  down  to  posterity  as  notably  skilled  in 
the  fine  arts,  whose  chief  works  of  merit,  however,  are 
limited  to  the  construction  of  stone  bridges.  Pietro  Gon- 
zales, according  to  whose  models  a  bridge  was  erected, 


1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  594. 

2  Hope,  On  Architecture,  p.  463,  speaking  of  the  unity  of  plans  existing 
among  the  Middle-Age  craftsmen,  says:  "The  designs  discovered  in  the 
archives  of  German  monasteries  show  the  deep  science,  and  the  long  foresight, 
and  the  complicated  calculations  employed  at  their  execution." 

8  Hope,  Essay,  etc.,  p.  457. 

1  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  457. 

6  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  594. 

6  Milizia,  Memorie  degli  Architetti  antichi  e  modemi.  Tomo  I.,  Lib.  I.,  cap. 
2.  This  author,  loc.  cit.f  apostrophizes  three  cleric  artisans  as  sainted  archi- 
tects :  tre  santi  architetti. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


99 


labored  and  assisted  himself  at  the  work,  furnishing  much 
elaborate  handiwork.1 

Among  the  structures  in  Holland  and  in  the  Nether- 
lands which  betray  their  Gothic  origin  and  the  work  of 
ancient  master  builders,  the  city  halls  at  Antwerp,  Brus- 
sels, Leuven,  and  Vlissingen  may  be  mentioned  as  the 
most  distinguished.2  Other  cities,  besides  those  enumer- 
ated, in  the  Low  Countries,  possess  Gothic  edifices.  The 
cathedral  at  Antwerp,  which  has  been  frequently  highly 
eulogized  for  its  rich  and  elaborate  architecture,  was 
founded  in  the  year  1422,  by  Master  Johann  Aurelius,  and 
completed  in  1518.  Another  important  work,  carried  for- 
ward with  much  zeal  by  the  people  of  the  Low  Countries, 
is  the  Mechlin  cathedral,  dedicated  to  St.  Rumoldus. 
This  edifice  was  begun  about  the  close  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury ;  the  choir  was  built  during  the  earlier  part  of  the 
ensuing  century,  and  the  entire  church  was  completed 
about  two  hundred  years  afterwards.  A  bell-tower  was 
added  to  this  cathedral  in  the  year  1453,  but  not  finished. 
Gothic  churches  were  also  erected  in  Holland,3  one  of 
which,  at  Brussels,  of  an  earlier  date  than  above  men- 
tioned, deserves  especial  reference  on  account  of  its  ele- 
gance. It  was  commenced  in  1226,  by  the  Duke  of  Bra- 
bant, and  brought  to  a  conclusion  in  1273. 

Even  as  far  north  as  the  Scandinavian  provinces,  and  in 
Northern  Europe,  German  master  builders 4  seem  to  have 
travelled,  creating  with  their  mystical  diagrams  and 
models,  obtained  within  closely-tiled  lodges  of  the  craft, 
the  airy  and  elegant  fabrics  of  Gothic  architecture.  At 

1  Lavorando  ei  stesso  e  assistendo  come  se  fosse  un  manuale.  Marchese, 
Vie  dei  Architetti  e  Pittori  Domenici,  Tomo  I.,  p.  63. 

2  Hope,  Historical  Essay,  etc.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  456,  awards  a  just  tribute  of  praise 
to  the  edifices  indicated  above,  and  at  the  expense  of  his  own  country. 

3  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  447. 

4  In  the  year  1287,  Etienne  de  Bonn,  a  foreign  and  perhaps  German  Master 
Mason,  was  called  to  Scandinavia  for  the  purpose  of  superintending  some  con- 
structions.   Luebke,  Geschichte  der  Architecture,  p.  543. 


100 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


an  earlier  age,  however,  Byzantine  workmanship  was  in- 
voked there,  to  rear  sober  temples  to  the  living  God,  as 
in  other  portions  of  the  Northern  countries.  The  finest 
edifice  in  the  Gothic  type  is  at  Upsala,  in  Sweden,  which 
was  begun  in  1258,  and  ended  in  the  year  1453,  by  Erich 
of  Pomerania,  master  architect.1 

France  yielded  to  the  influence  of  German  art  early  in  the 
thirteenth  century.  At  the  commencement  of  this  epoch, 
the  Roman  style,  which  had  gradually  merged  into  the 
Gothic  or  Germanic,  being  liberated  from  the  restraints 
of  primitive  types,  under  the  zeal  of  master  builders, 
approximated  to  a  definitive  Christian  art.2  The  grand 
relics  of  the  florid  Roman,  austere  in  their  greatness  and 
elaborate  in  their  fantastic  ornamentation,  attest  the 
approaching  dawn  of  individualism  in  modern  architec- 
ture. From  the  twelfth  to  the  thirteenth  century  —  de- 
nominated the  transitional  era  —  the  Roman  style,  which 
is  distinguished  by  the  fulness  of  the  circular  arch,  gradu- 
ally merges  into  the  Gothic  or  German,  the  most  striking 
evidence  of  which  is  the  ogive  form,  and  is  its  original 
characteristic.  A  mixed  style  of  architecture  seems, 
however,  to  have  prevailed  in  France  at  this  period,  'n 
which  the  Gothic  predominates.  The  churches  of  Saint 
Remy,  at  Rheims,  the  abbey  of  Saint  Denis,  Saint  Nicho- 
las, at  Blois,  the  abbey  of  Jumieges,  and  the  cathedral  of 
Chalons-sur-Marne,  are  the  principal  models  of  this  style.3 
It  is  noteworthy  that,  for  a  long  period,  the  ogive  tri- 
umphed over  the  circular  arch  in  Northern  France,  while 
in  the  meridional,  Roman  traditional  types,  allied  to  the 
Byzantine,  still  continued  to  inspire  the  construction  of 


1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  598. 

*  Vide  Luebke,  Vorschule  zum  Studium  der  kirchlichen  Kunst,  sec.  v.  This 
writer  awards  the  credit  of  having  created  the  Gothic  style  to  Northern  France. 
Ibid.,  p.  56. 

8  Hawkins,  History  of  the  Origin  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  134 ;  Lacroix,  Les 
Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  pp.  398-401. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  101 


sacred  edifices.  There  remains  but  little  doubt  that  Ger- 
many, with  its  earliest  corps  of  building  fraternities,  was 
the  country  whose  vital  forces  produced  that  style  of 
architectural  art  which  we  call  pointed.1  Germany,  at 
the  epoch  under  notice,  comprehended  such  portions  of 
France  as  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  while  Franche-Compte, 
as  much  appurtenant  to  Germany  as  France,  formed  an. 
independent  dukedom  in  the  Low  Countries.  As  we  have 
previously  remarked,  at  this  period  the  arts  and  sciences 
had  almost  entirely  passed  from  the  control  of  the  monas- 
tic institutions,  and  were  in  the  possession  of  builders  or 
Freemasons,2  regularly  organized  into  oath-bound  guilds. 
To  this  fact  can  be  ascribed  the  rapid  transmission 
throughout  France  of  the  ogive  or  pointed  arch,  which 
now  had  become  the  prevailing  style  of  architecture.3  A 
century  sufficed  to  bring  the  ogival  to  its  highest  perfec- 
tion. 

Of  the  Gallic  structures  which  betray  their  Gothic 
origin,  the  most  noticeable  are  the  cathedrals  of  Rheims, 
dedicated  about  1215,  of  Bourges,  and  Amiens.  As  a  speci- 
men cathedral,  constructed  in  the  fuller  details  of  German 
style,  that  of  Notre  Dame,  of  Rouen,  affords,  perhaps,  the 
finest  example.4  The  church  of  Saint  Owen,  also  of  Rouen, 
was  completed  in  1318,  and  may  be  cited  as  an  edifice 
erected  upon  a  model  of  art  which,  at  this  era,  had  per- 
meated Europe.  The  foundations  of  the  cathedral  at 
Amiens  were  originally  laid  in  the  seventh  century,  but 
having  been  frequently  destroyed  by  fire,  it  was  com- 
menced anew  in  the  year  1220,5  and  finally  completed  in 

1  Hope,  Historical  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  450. 

2  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  450,  states,  with  much  vigor  and 
clearness,  the  causes  of  the  lamentable  decay  of  English  architecture  at  this 
time,  as  arising  from  the  unjust  discriminations  against  the  Freemasons:  "ita 
chief  parents  and  propagators." 

3  Lacroix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  402. 

4  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  593. 

6  Hawkins,  History  of  the  Origin  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  142. 
9* 


102 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


1288.  Notre  Dame,  of  Paris,  finished1  in  1275,  by  Jean 
de  Chelles  as  master  builder,  and  Sainte  Ohapelle,  built 
under  Louis  IX.,  by  Pierre  de  Montereau,  in  the  year 
1248,  as  master  of  the  masons,  are  of  peculiar  significance 
in  their  historical  connection  with  the  Parisian  Free- 
masons and  stonecutters,  whose  associations,  as  we  shall 
presently  see,  were  recognized  by  law  in  1254,  and  evi- 
dently furnished  the  work  upon  the  foregoing  buildings. 


1  Hope,  Essay,  ut  supra,  p.  478. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


Early  History  of  French  Masons — Rules  of  Saint  Eloi  Pre- 
served in  the  Fifteenth  Century  —  Duration  of  Apprentice- 
ship—  Boileau,  by  Royal  Authority,  Digests  Ancient  Masonic 
Laws  —  Candidates  must  Conform  to  Usages  and  Customs  of 
the  Craft  —  None  of  Equivocal  Birth  to  be  Received  —  Grand 
Master  Recognized  in  1254 — Master  Masons  must  Swear  be- 
fore Him  —  Nature  of  Mediaeval  Obligation  —  Grand  Master's 
Power  to  Forbid  the  Trade  to  a  Delinquent  Craftsman  — 
Tools  should  be  Seized  —  Concessions  alleged  to  be  Granted 
by  Charles  Martel. 

RA^nTCE  unqualifiedly  possesses  the  earliest  authen- 
tic record  touching  the  fraternity  of  Masons.  I 
have  previously  stated,  upon  the  authority  of 
Lacroix,1  that  Saint  Eloi,  whose  efforts  in  behalf 
of  the  mechanical  trades  procured  for  him  the  honor  of 
patronage  to  the  guild  of  smiths  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
had,  in  the  eighth  century,  organized  the  monks  of  his 
abbey  into  a  society  of  tradesmen.  According  to  the 
same  author,  it  would  appear  that  this  celebrated  bishop 
established  two  distinct  corporations  —  one  for  clerical 
workmen,  the  other  in  which  laymen  were  admitted  to 
membership.  When  the  laws  relating  to  trades  were 
revised,  under  Louis  IX.,  the  statutes  promulgated  by 
Saint  Eloi,  during  his  lifetime,  were  merely  transcribed 
and  reenacted.2    So  far  as  the  rules  affected  the  admission 

1  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  pp.  160-162. 

2  Lorsque  Etienne  Boileau,  preVot  de  Paris,  redigea  son  fameux  Livre  den 
metiers,  il  n'eut  guere  qu'a  transcrire  les  statuts  des  orfevres  a  peu  pres  tels  que 
les  avait  institues  Saint  Eloi.    Lacroix,  Ibid.,  p.  163. 

103 


104 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


of  members  into  the  guild  of  jewellers  or  goldsmiths,  we 
learn  from  these  laws  that  an  apprentice  could  not  be 
advanced  to  the  degree  of  Master  until  he  had  duly 
qualified  by  an  apprenticeship  of  ten  years.1  At  that 
distant  period,  the  fraternity  of  goldsmiths  wTas  possessed 
of  a  seal,  in  order  to  attest  its  authorized  works  of  charity. 
In  the  year  1254,  Etienne  Boileau,  who  was  provost  of 
Paris  under  the  direction  of  Louis  IX.,  king  of  France, 
collected  the  rules  and  regulations  affecting  the  various 
trades  of  that  city,  and  digested  them  into  manuscript 
form,  entitled,  "  Reglemens  sur  Les  Arts  et  Metiers  de 
Paris  ;  "  by  royal  authority  they  were  ordained  to  be  the 
law,  to  which  all  guilds  or  mechanical  occupations  in  Paris 
should  be  henceforth  subjected.2 

These  ordinances,  in  reference  to  many  trades,  presup- 
pose an  existence  long  anterior  to  the  time  when  the 
statutes  referred  to  were  proclaimed  by  the  king  as  bind- 
ing upon  the  citizens  of  Paris.  The  forty-eighth  chapter 
of  the  Boileau  manuscript  contains  the  law  relating  to 
masons,  stonecutters,  plasterers,  and  mortar-mixers,  and  is, 
in  the  highest  degree,  important  as  the  oldest  unquestioned 
and  earliest  written  record  touching  the  mediseval  opera- 
tive masons  and  stonecutters.  All  these  were  governed 
by  identical  regulations,  with  some  important  exceptions 
in  favor  of  the  stonemasons,  and  to  which  reference  will 
be  hereafter  made.  Among  other  things  referring  to  these 
artificers,  it  is  conceded  that  any  one  can  exercise  the 
occupation  of  an  operative  mason  in  the  French  capital, 
provided  he  may  be  skilled  in  the  trade,  and  will  unquali- 
fiedly conform  to  the  ancient  usages  and  customs  of  the 
fraternity.3    Then  follows  the  explanation  as  to  the  ele- 

1  It  will  be  seen  hereafter  that  the  duration  of  an  apprenticeship  was  usually 
less  than  the  time  mentioned  above.  Vide  Lacroix,  Les  Moeurs  et  Usages,  p. 
316 ;  Krause,  Die  Drei  altesten  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  II.,  2  Ab.,  pp.  277-300. 

2  Pardessus,  Essai  Historique  sur  V  Organization  Judiciaire,  p.  251. 

3  II  puet  macon  a  Paris  qui  veut,  pour  tant  que  il  sache  le  mestier,  et  qu'il 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


105 


merits  involved  in  such  customs,  which  are  narrated  to  be, 
that  no  master  mason  shall  have  in  his  employ. more  than 
one  apprentice  at  the  same  time,  and  that  such  apprentice- 
ship, in  no  case,  can  endure  longer  than  six  years.1  An 
exception,  however,  is  reserved  in  favor  of  the  master's 
legitimate  children ;  in  that  case,  he  was  permitted  to 
have  all  of  them  entered  as  apprentices.2  On  the  other 
hand,  he  was  allowed,  at  the  expiration  of  the  fifth  year's 
service  of  his  pupil,  to  engage  another,  in  order  that  he 
might  have  the  benefit  of  a  more  or  less  skilled  workman 
whenever  a  full  apprenticeship  ended.  If  he  violated 
these  rules,  or,  to  speak  more  in  harmony  with  this  digest, 
the  usages  and  customs  of  the  fraternity,  the  master  of 
masons  was  obliged  to  compensate  by  an  amend  of  twenty 
Parisian  solidi.3  This  applied  to  all  cases  where  the  term 
of  service  was  limited  to  a  shorter  period  of  time  than 
six  years,  or  when  the  master  employed  more  than  one 
apprentice,  with  the  reservation  of  legitimate  issue,  as 
above  noted. 

So  early  as  the  year  1254,  the  practice  seems  to  have 
prevailed  of  appointing  a  general  or  Grand  Master  over  the 
guilds  of  Masons  in  Paris.  Steinbrenner  4  has  taken  An- 
derson to  task  for  asserting  that  a  Grand  Master  nobly 
born5  was  frequently  selected  by  royal  favor  to  have  au- 
thority of  the  mediaeval  craftsmen.    In  addition  to  the 

oevre  as  us  et  aus  coustumes  du  mestier  qui  tel  sunt.  Boileau,  Livre  des  Me- 
tiers, Tit.  xlviii.  In  citing  these  ordinances,  I  have  followed,  for  conveni- 
ence, the  edition  of  Depping,  a.  d.  1837. 

1  Nus  ne  puet  avoir  en  leur  mestier  que  j  apprentis,  et  se  il  a  apprentis  il 
ne  le  puet  prendre  a  moins  de  vj  ans  de  service.  Ibid.,  op.  tit.  In  other 
jurisdictions  the  master  might  possess  three.  Krause,  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  II., 
Abt.  2,  pp.  277-300. 

2  Ses  fils  tout  seulement  nez  de  loial  marriage.  Ibid.,  ut  supra.  Thus  early, 
it  would  seem,  no  bastard  could  become  a  Mason. 

3  Boileau,  Reglemens  sur  Metiers,  cap.  xlviii.    4  Origin  of  Masonry,  p.  112. 

5  Anderson,  Ancient  Constitutions,  p.  37,  makes  use  of  the  following  phrase- 
ology :  "  The  Grand  Master,  who  was  always  nobly  born,  presided  at  hearings," 
etc. 


106 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


case  already  cited  of  Morow1  as  grand  supervisor  of  the 
various  lodges  under  his  jurisdiction,  Depping,  in  his  in- 
troductory essay  to  the  edition  of  Boileau,2  asserts  that  it 
was  in  strict  accordance  with  established  usage  for  the 
French  kings,  at  this  period,  to  confer  the  patronage  or 
general  mastership  of  Parisian  guilds  upon  the  nobility, 
and  as  a  natural  consequence  of  such  privileges,  these  gen- 
tlemen were  entitled  to  all  taxes  levied  upon  the  associa- 
tions. Moreover,  it  is  stated,  in  the  most  explicit  terms, 
.  by  the  compiler  of  these  ordinances,  Boileau,3  that  his 
majesty,  Louis  IX.,  had  given  the  mastership  of  the  Ma- 
sons to  Master  William  de  Saint  Patre,  so  long  as  such 
appointment  should  please  the  royal  grantor.  It  was  fur- 
thermore enacted  that  Master  William  should  exercise  the 
mastership  of  the  Masons  and  stonecutters,  within  a  lodge 
to  be  opened  inside  the  palace  enclosure,  where  all  matters 
pertaining  to  Masonic  jurisdiction  should  be  considered 
and  determined  by  this  nobleman.  By  these  regulations, 
each  Grand  or  General  Master  was  obliged  to  make  oath 
before  the  provost  of  the  city,  that  well  and  truly,  to  the 
best  of  his  ability,  both  as  regarded  the  rich  and  poor,  the 
weak  and  the  strong,  he  would  preserve  the  ordinances 
thus  promulged  as  long  as  the  king  should  be  satisfied  to 
retain  him  in  the  above-mentioned  general  mastership. 
This  obligation,  Boileau  says,4  William  de  Saint  Patre 
took  before  the  provost  of  Paris,  and  within  the  enclosed 

1  Supra,  p.  76,  etc. 

2  Vide  Introductory  Essay,  by  Depping,  p.  lvii.,  prefixed  to  his  edition  of 
Boileau's  Livre  des  Metiers;  also,  p.  419.  There  were  Grand  Masters  of  forests 
and  waters,  according  to  Pardessus,  U  Organization  Judiciaire,  p.  267. 

3  Li  Rois  qui  ore  est,  cui  Deux  donist  bone  vie  a  done  la  mestrise  des 
macons  a  mestre  Guill.  de  Saint-Patre  tant  come  il  li  plaira.  Livre  des  Me- 
tiers, Tit.  xlviii.  I  should  infer,  from  the  tenor  of  the  ordinance  regu- 
lating the  number  of  apprentices  to  be  allowed  a  Grand  Master,  that  a  noble- 
man was  not  invariably  inducted  in  this  responsible  position  ;  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, such  officer  may  have  been  equally  skilled  in  the  science  of  architecture 
with  other  master  builders. 

*  Ibid.,  cap.  48. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


107 


space  around  the  palace.1  According  to  this  authority, 
every  Grand  Master  who  had  jurisdiction  of  the  Parisian 
operative  Masons,  by  virtue  of  the  royal  concession,  was 
allowed  two  apprentices,  upon  exactly  the  same  terms  and 
conditions  as  a  master  stonecutter,  and  in  case  of  trans- 
gression of  any  rules  or  regulations  affecting  such  appren- 
ticeship, he  was  subjected  to  similar  penalties. 

At  this  point  of  my  work,  I  mention  a  remarkable  fact, 
although  it  properly  belongs  to  the  internal  history  of  the 
subject.  It  was  permitted,  by  the  ordinance  of  1254,  that 
each  mason,  stonecutter,  etc.,  should  have  as  many  assist- 
ants and  aids  in  their  work  as  suited  them,  but  it  was 
rigidly  forbidden  to  communicate  to  such  laborers  or 
others  any  of  the  secret  arts  of  the  trade,  however  slight 
the  disclosure  might  be.2  Each  Master  of  Masons  was 
obliged  to  swear  that  he  would,  with  loyalty  and  in  good 
faith,  guard  his  trade  from  breaches  and  innovations,  and 
would  faithfully  perform  all  its  requirements  so  far  as  he 
might  be  concerned  as  an  individual  Mason  ;  and  also,  if 
he  should  at  any  time  become  cognizant  of  the  infringe- 
ment upon  a  rule,  or  that  the  usages  and  customs  of  the 
fraternity  were  violated,  he  would  reveal  such  infraction 
to  the  Master  whenever  it  occurred,  by  the  binding  force 
of  his  obligation.3 

When  apprentices  had  completed  the  term  of  appren- 
ticeship, their  masters  were  obliged  to  produce  them  be- 
fore the  General  or  Grand  Master  of  the  craft,  and  to  testify 
that  they  had  truly  and  lawfully  served  the  required  term ; 

lIbid.,  he.  eit. 

2  Tuit  li  ma9on,  tuit  li  mortelier,  doivent  jurer  seur  sains  que  il  le  mestier 
devant  dit  garderont  et  feront  bien  et  loiauraent,  chascun  endroit  soi,  et  que 
se  il  scevent  que  nul  il  mesprenge  en  aucuire  chose  del  mestier  devant  dit,  etc. 
Boileau,  Ibid.,  cap.  48. 

.  3  This  feature  incident  to  the  Middle- Age  Freemasons  was  also  well  recog- 
nized at  a  later  period.  Plat,  Natural  History  of  Staffordshire,  §  86,  ed.  1686, 
says  the  craftsmen  of  his  day  were  sworn  to  acquaint  the  master  with  the 
"  goodness  or  badness  of  the  materials  —  that  Masonry  be  not  dishonored." 


108 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


thereupon  the  grand  officer  caused  the  apprentices  to  swear 
that  they  would  for  all  time,  and  on  every  occasion,  yield 
obedience  to  the  established  usages  and  customs1  of  the 
trade.  ~No  mason  was  at  liberty  to  labor  on  any  work  when 
the  hour  of  nine  sounded  from  Notre  Dame,  during  cer- 
tain religious  observances,  or  when  vespers  were  chanted 
in  the  same  cathedral,  unless  it  might  be  necessary  to  stay 
an  arch  or  to  securely  fasten  a  stone  step  in  a  stairway.2 
In  case  any  operative  pursued  his  avocation  after  the  hours 
designated,  except  for  the  foregoing  purposes,  he  should 
pay  a  money  penalty  to  the  Grand  Master  of  the  trade,  and 
this  officer  was  also  empowered  to  seize  the  working  tools 
of  a  recalcitrant  artificer  until  satisfaction  was  rendered.3 
It  was,  moreover,  the  duty  of  the  French  mason,  under  his 
obligation,  whenever,  in  the  exercise  of  his  trade,  he  was 
brought  into  contact  with  plasterers,  to  inspect  their  work 
and  to  see  that  the  measure  of  material  to  be  used  was  in 
accordance  with  the  proper  standard,  and  if  at  all  suspi- 
cious as  to  the  requisite  quantity,  the  plasterer  was  forced 
to  measure  it  in  his  presence.  For  any  deficiency  in  the 
amount,  a  fine  was  exacted.4 

Plasterers,  who,  we  have  already  remarked,  were  sub- 
jected to  exactly  the  same  conditions,  and  under  a  master, 
as  masons  and  stonecutters,  were  obliged,  before  being 
admitted  to  follow  their  vocations,  to  pay  a  license  of  five 
solidi  to  the  Master  for  such  privilege,  and  immediately 
after  payment  he  took  a  prescribed  oath  not  to  make  any 
deleterious  admixture  with  the  plaster,  but  would  use  the 

1  Le  raestier  doit  fere  jurer  a  I'aprentis  seur  sains  que  il  se  contendra  aus 
us  et  as  coustumes  du  mestier  bien  et  leaument.    Boileau,  ut  supra. 

2  Boileau,  Reglemens  sur  Metiers,  cap.  xlviii. 

3  Et  en  puet  prendre  li  mestre  les  ostieuz  at  cetui  que  seroit  reprins  par 
1' amende.  Ibid.,  he.  cit.  Here  is  an  explicit  acknowledging  of  the  right  to 
"ratten"  a  workman's  tools  for  disobedience.  Vide  Brentano,  On  the  History 
and  Development  of  Guilds,  p.  exxvii.,  for  further  information  connected  with 
this  subject. 

*  Boileau,  Livre  des  Metiers,  cap.  48. 


\ 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


109 


same  grade  of  material  and  always  deliver  good  and  suffi- 
cient measure.1  Whenever  it  occurred  that  an  artisan 
disregarded  the  solemnity  of  his  obligation,  it  became  the 
Master's  duty  to  suitably  chastise  him,  and  to  enjoin  him 
from  the  further  prosecution  of  the  trade.  Upon  the  con- 
tumacious or  contemptuous  conduct  of  any  master  work- 
man being  known  to  the  Grand  Master  of  Masons,  he  was 
required  by  these  ordinances  to  produce  the  offender  before 
the  provost  of  Paris,  whose  duty  it  was  to  compel  him  to 
forswear  the  trade  forever.2 

The  hours  of  labor  seemed  to  have  been  regularly  fixed 
for  these  craftsmen ;  and  it  was  provided  that  no  operative 
should  abandon  his  work  before  the  master  who  directed 
the  same.  It  was  also  ordained  that  any  workman  failing 
to  present  himself  at  the  morning  hour,  should  be  fined  the 
sum  of  four  denari?  In  case  of  failure  to  pay  the  amercement 
before  the  time  of  recommencing  work,  or  if  he  returned 
to  his  labor  without  having  liquidated  his  fine,  he  was 
compelled  to  pay  four  denari  additional  for  the  master. 
Although  legislation,  as  to  the  hours  of  commencing  work 
and  of  its  duration,  had  been  regularly  digested  by  Boileau, 
in  his  compilation  of  so  remote  a  date  as  1254,  there  is  a 
still  earlier  record  that  other  guilds  were  also  required  to 
pay  proper  attention  to  the  opening  and  closing  of  their 
daily  labors.  In  a  charter  conceded  by  Philip  Augustus, 
in  the  year  1204,  to  the  corporation  of  weavers  at  Etampes,4 

1  Ibid.,  ut  supra. 

2  Doit  celui  faire  forjurer  le  mestier  devant  dit.  Boileau,  Ibid.  The  Eng- 
lish Freemasons  of  the  time  of  Edward  III.  were  also  amenable  to  the  law 
of  the  land ;  the  officer  who  executed  the  necessary  decrees  against  these 
craftsmen  was  the  sheriff,  answering,  perhaps,  to  the  prevot  of  Paris.  Preston, 
Illustrations  of  Masonry,  p.  113. 

3  Boileau,  Ibid. 

4  Tous  les  tisserands  commenceront  et  quitteront  leur  travail  a  I'heure  due. 
Guizot,  Histoire  de  la  Civilisation  en  France,  Tome  IV.,  p.  331.  This  associa- 
tion was  permitted  by  law  to  elect  prudhommes,  who  were  invested  with  the 
power  of  petty  justice  over  the  weavers.  Prior  to  entering  upon  the  duties  of 
office,  an  obligation  of  fairness  and  fidelity  was  exacted  of  them. 

10 


110 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


it  was  ordered,  among  other  things,  that  all  laborers  should 
begin  and  cease  work  at  a  certain  time. 

At  Paris,  the  General  Master  of  the  Masons  was  em- 
powered, by  virtue  of  his  office,  to  compel  a  compensation 
to  be  paid  for  each  and  every  quarrel  which  arose  between 
the  members  of  the  guild,  and  in  case  the  operative,  by 
whom  such  payment  was  adjudged  to  be  made,  proved 
rebellious  and  resisted  the  due  execution  of  the  award,  the 
Master  could  forbid  him  the  future  exercise  of  his  trade. 
If  he,  nevertheless,  persisted  in  his  contumacy,  the  master 
of  the  work  was  privileged  to  seize  his  tools ;  and  as  a  final 
resort,  other  punishment  being  unavailable,  complaint  was 
made  to  the  provost  of  the  city.  Material  force  was  then 
used  to  subjugate  the  rebel,  and  compel  submission  to  legal 
authority.1 

In  so  far  as  the  plasterers  were  concerned,  they  were 
required  to  perform  watch  duty,  and  pay  taxes  assessed 
upon  them.  But  the  stonecutters  were  exempted  from 
guard-mount.  This  concession  was  made  them  on  the 
ground,  which  we  shall  hereafter  critically  examine,  that 
such  exemption  had  descended  to  them  from  the  time  of 
Charles  Martel  1 2  The  Grand  Master  who  controlled  the 
tradesmen,  by  authority  of  the  king  was  also  exempt  from 
watch  duty,  as  an  equivalent  for  his  official  services.  Each 
craftsman,  of  whatever  profession,  in  Paris,  over  fifty  years 
of  age,  was  not  liable  for  such  municipal  duty ;  but  in  order 
to  be  legally  exempted,  it  was  necessary  to  bring  that  fact 

1  Boileau,  Livre  des  Metiers,  cap.  48. 

2  Li  Mortelliers  sont  quites  du  gueit,  et  tout  taileur  de  pierre,  tres  le  tans 
Charles  Martel  si  come  li  prendome  Pen  oi  dire  de  pere  a  fils.  Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 
Depping,  note  (5)  to  chap.  48,  ed.  1837,  says,  in  this  connection,  that  the 
allegation  of  the  prudhommes  is  curious  as  a  tradition  current  among  the 
stonemasons,  that  their  corporation  ascended  to  the  time  of  this  celebrated 
warrior.  Anderson,  Ancient  Constitutions,  p.  26,  says  painters,  carpenters,  and 
joiners  were  also  considered  masons.  The  authority  cited  above  shows  con- 
clusively, that  plasterers  and  mortar-mixers  were  considered  as  masons,  and 
partially  proves  Anderson's  allegation. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


Ill 


officially  to  the  notice  of  the  commandant  of  the  guard.1 
This  collection  of  the  statutes,  digested  in  the  middle  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  and  affecting  all  the  Parisian  trades, 
makes  especial  arrangements  for  settling  disputes  arising 
between  the  brethren  and  their  employers.  Some  masons 
and  carpenters  were  selected  to  arbitrate  the  differences, 
and  were  allowed  a  per  diem  compensation  for  each  day's 
view,  when  required,  of  the  subject-matter  in  question.2 

From  the  preceding  narration  it  appears,  I  think,  that 
the  fraternity  of  Freemasons,  in  the  year  1254,  was  estab- 
lished by  law  in  Paris  on  a  solid  foundation.  The  chapter, 
from  which  copious  citations  have  been  made,  is  of  ines- 
timable value  to  the  Masonic  historian.  It  is  incontestably 
the  oldest  written  record  of  the  craft  yet  discovered,  and 
as  such  is  entitled  to  an  unbounded  confidence.  So  far  as 
the  external  history  of  Freemasonry  at  that  remote  period 
is  concerned,  it  is,  in  my  judgment,  the  only  authentic 
document  now  extant.  The  most  ancient  roll  which  has 
yet  appeared  in  other  countries,  does  not  claim  a  higher 
antiquity  than  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century ;  conse- 
quently this  charter  of  Boileau,  for  it  bears  sufficient  evi- 
dence that  it  was  designed  to  answer  the  purpose  of  such 
concession  to  the  Parisian  trades-people,  recognizing,  under 
imperial  revision,  their  right  of  internal  government, 
presents  claims  to  consideration  superior  to  the  manuscript 
of  Halliwell,3  which  he  has  assigned  to  the  year  1390  —  a 
difference  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  years  between  the 
two  written  documents.4    I  purposely  say  assigned,  because 

1  Boileau,  Reglemens  sur  les  Metiers,  cap.  48. 

2  Depping,  Ordonnances  relatives  aux  Metiers  de  Paris,  p.  373. 

3  This  manuscript  is  numbered  on  the  manuscript  list  of  the  British 
Museum  as  Royal  17  A 1. 

4  There  is  a  bare  possibility  that  this  manuscript  may  have  been  copied 
from  the  return  by  some  guild  of  Masons,  made,  as  other  guilds  in  England  were 
required  to  make,  to  the  king's  council,  in  pursuance  of  an  order  of  Parliament 
in  the  twelfth  year  of  Richard  II.,  A.  D.  1389.  The  records  of  these  returns 
from  numerous  guilds  have  been  collected  and  published  by  Toulman 


112 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


there  are  grave  doubts  as  to  the  genuineness  of  its  alleged 
antiquity.1  This  we  shall  presently  proceed  to  examine. 
If  a  charter,  whose  date  in  1254  is  unquestioned,  states  that 
certain  privileges  had  existed  from  the  time  of  the  illus- 
trious Charles  Martel,  who  had  conceded  the  same  to  the 
stonemasons'  guild,  why  should  not  a  similar  line  of 
reasoning  apply  to  establish  the  original  foundation  of 
European  Masonry  about  the  year  774,  as  well  as  to  accept 
unqualifiedly  the  assertion  of  a  gossiping  poem,  claimed  to 
be  drawn  up  in  1390,  which  alleges  the  Masons  were  first 
chartered  by  King  Athelstan,  in  the  year  926  ? 2  As  a  point 
of  singular  identity,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  early 
Masonic  MSS.  also  say  that  the  Emperor  Charles  Martel 
was  distinguished  for  his  patronage  of  the  Masons.  I 
think  the  connection  of  this  valiant  soldier  with  the  earlier 
history  of  the  building  fraternity  can  be  satisfactorily 
explained,  and  for  this  explanation  the  reader  is  referred 
to  the  Second  Part  of  this  work. 

« 

Smith,  in  his  English  Guilds,  but  there  is  among  them  nothing  having  a  direct 
reference  to  the  fraternity  of  Masons. 

1  Kloss,  Die  Freirnaurerei  in  ihrer  wahren  Bedeutung,  p.  283,  etc.,  furnishes  an 
unsatisfactory  criticism  upon  the  age  of  Halliwell's  manuscripts. 

2  This  date  is  purely  conjectural,  and  without  historical  basis  to  confirm  it. 


f 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Authentic  British  Craft  History  first  Met  in  Melrose  Abbey  — 
Freemasons  Organized  in  England  in  Thirteenth  Century  — 
Traditional  Assembly  of  Masons  at  York  not  Keliable  — 
Halliwell  Manuscript;  Its  Antiquity;  Copied  from  an  Older 
Original  —  Naymus  Graecus  and  Charles  Martel  also  Patrons 
of  English  Craftsmen  —  Masonic  Legends  Indicate  an  Eastern 
Origin  —  Gallic  Builders  in  Britain  —  When  Introduced  from 
France  —  German  Masters  Called  to  England  —  Legend  of  the 
Four  Martyrs. 

N"  Britain,  as  we  have  previously  seen,  the  first 
reliable  account  touching  Masons,  historically 
considered,  is  to  be  found  engraved,  in  nearly 
obliterated  characters,  on  the  walls  of  Melrose 
abbey  church,  and  establishes  the  fact  that,  as  early  as  the 
year  1136,  this  portion  of  the  United  Kingdom  depended 
on  master  masons  imported  from  abroad.  John  Morow, 
or  Moreau,  as  he  was  sometimes  called,  maintains,  in  the 
inscription  alluded  to,  that  be  was  born  in  Paris : 

And  :  had  :  in  :  keeping : 
al :  mason  :  werk  :  of :  Santan 
droys  :  ye  :  hye  :  kirk :  of :  Glas 
gow  :  Melrose :  and  :  Paslay  :  of 
Nyddysdayll :  and  :  of :  Galway  : 

From  this,  it  sufficiently  appears  that  John  Moreau,  a 
Parisian,  at  the  construction  of  Melrose  abbey,  and  the 
churches  and  cathedral  mentioned  in  his  quaint  verses, 
10*  H  113 


114 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


was  the  master  builder  among  all  the  masons  employed 
in  building  these  several  sacred  edifices.  As  before  noted, 
William  of  Sens,  a  French  master,  forty  years  subsequent 
to  the  time  of  his  compatriot  predecessor,  arrived  on  Eng- 
lish soil,  to  rebuild  the  rapidly-decaying  cathedral  of  Can- 
terbury and  several  abbeys.  For  many  years  after  William 
of  Sens,  whose  tragical  fate  has  already  been  noticed,  the 
Master  Masons  of  England  were  usually  foreigners,1  and 
incorporated  by  royal  authority.2  According  to  a  con- 
tributor to  the  Archceologia?  they  were  not  regularly 
organized  into  corporations  under  the  law,  as  a  society 
of  Freemasons,  until  the  thirteenth  century.  It  is  gen- 
erally believed  that  a  grand  assembly  of  the  craft  was 
held  at  the  city  of  York  in  the  year  926,  and  that  they 
were  chartered  as  a  corporation,  with  Edwin  as  Grand 
Master.  It  is  said  that,  at  this  time,  all  the  records  of 
the  fraternity,  in  Greek,  French,  and  English,  were  col- 
lected, and  from  them  were  framed  the  Constitution  and 
Charges  for  English  Freemasons  still  in  use.4  The  state- 
ment of  the  existence  of  these  original  articles,  in  the 
Greek  and  French  languages,  at  that  period,  induces 
serious  objections  to  the  correctness  of  the  information 
through  which  a  knowledge  of  this  mythical  convention 
has  descended  to  us.  That  there  were  corporations  of 
Grecian  builders  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries  in 

1  Preston,  whose  writings  possess  little  historical  value  until  immediately 
preceding  his  own  age,  concedes  that  French  masons  were  employed  in  Eng- 
land at  this  period.  Illustrations  of  Masonry,  sec.  iii.  See,  also,  Hutchinson, 
Spirit  of  Masonry,  p.  32. 

2  "  The  Master  Masons  were  generally  foreigners,  incorporated  by  royal 
authority."    Paly,  Manual  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  211. 

3  Vol.  XXIII.,  p.  403 ;  vide  Dallaway,  Historical  Account  of  Master  and  Free- 
mason, pp.  403-407 ;  and  Paly,  Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 

4  Perhaps  the  earliest  historical  authority  that  a  record  of  the  craft  was  pre- 
served in  lodges,  and  that  the  traditions  of  the  fraternity  were  rehearsed,  as 
now,  to  initiates,  is  Plot's  Natural  Hist,  of  Staffordshire,  §  85.  He  refers  to  this 
ancient  roll  as  of  parchment:  ex  rotulo  membraneceo  penes  Caementariorum 
societatem. 


ANTIQ  U1TIES  OF  FREE  MA  S  ONR  Y.  115 


Europe,  we  have  already  shown  to  he  heyond  controversy, 
as  a  close  connection  was  maintained  between  the  early 
transitional  style  of  architecture  and  the  late  Roman,  by 
means  of  the  uninterrupted  intercourse  existing  between 
these  architects  and  their  native  land.1  The  foundation 
of  the  tradition  concerning  the  Masonic  convocation  at 
York  rests  upon  the  assertion  of  Anderson,2  that  a  history 
of  this  event  was  written  in  the  time  of  Edward  IV., 
towards  the  termination  of  the  fifteenth  century  (1475), 
and  also  upon  copies,  or  rather  one  copy,  of  the  Gothic 
articles  alleged  to  have  been  made  in  the  reign  of  Rich- 
ard EL,  between  the  years  1367  and  1399  —  nearly  five 
hundred  years  subsequent  to  the  time  assigned  for  this 
legendary  assembly. 

The  very  general  decline  of  literature  and  classical 
knowledge  which  ensued  after  the  terrible  devastations 
to  which  the  whole  of  England  was  exposed,  is  the  subject 
of  a  letter  by  Alfred  the  Great  to  a  friend,  lamenting  the 
almost  total  extinction  of  learning  in  his  kingdom,  and 
that,  although  at  the  close  of  the  eighth  century  a  knowl- 
edge of  Greek  was  so  universal  that  women  wrote  and 
spoke  it  fluently,  yet  in  his  day,  about  fifty  years  before 
the  alleged  assembling  of  Masons  at  York,  "  there  were 
comparatively  few  persons  who  were  able  to  understand 
the  church  service  in  the  English  tongue,  or  translate  a 
Latin  epistle  into  their  own  language."3    We  may,  at 

1  Ottfried  Mueller,  Archazologie  der  Kunst,  p.  224.  See,  also,  note  (2),  on 
the  same  page,  where  the  traditional  assembly  alluded  to  is  stated  by  this 
learned  author  with  extreme  caution.  . 

2  Ancient  Constitutions,  p.  31.  No  authority  for  lateral  search  is  cited  — 
simply  the  bare  narrative. 

3  Lingard,  Antiquities  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church,  pp.  224-5.  According  to 
Pauli,  Life  of  Alfred  the  Great,  p.  192,  King  Alfred  endeavored  to  reorganize 
an  efficient  corps  of  architects  ;  with  what  success  does  not  appear.  This  great 
monarch  seems  to  have  made  strenuous  efforts  to  rebuild  the  churches  burned 
during  the  Danish  invasions,  with  the  aid  of  foreign  artists,  imported  from 
abroad :  ex  multis  gentibus  collectos  et  in  omni  terreneo  aedificis  edoctos. 


116 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


least,  assert  it  to  be  highly  improbable  that  any  of  those 
who  are  said  to  have  framed  these  ancient  charges  and 
regulations  for  the  government  of  the  craft  in  the  tenth 
century  were,  at  this  epoch,  able  to  comprehend  Greek, 
when,  as  Mr.  Hallam 1  says,  England  was  sunk  into  a 
lamentable  state  of  barbarism  and  intellectual  darkness. 
So  far  as  relates  to  the  French  language,  in  which  a  por- 
tion of  these  famous  records  are  claimed  to  have  been 
drawn  up,  it  will  suffice  to  say  that,  in  the  year  926,  no 
French  idiom  existed  as  a  written  language.2  The  time 
fixed  as  the  date  of  the  York  assembly,  in  the  year  926,  is 
purely  and  entirely  conjectural.  ~No  portion  of  the  manu- 
script contains  the  slightest  allusion  to  that  or  any  other 
period,  but  merely  states  Masonry  was  introduced  in  the 
time  of  Athelstan,3  who,  according  to  more  recent  written 
legends,  held  a  grand  convocation  at  York,  and  that  he 
made  proclamation  at  that  time  for  all  records  pertaining 
to  the  craft  to  be  produced  before  him.    Upon  what 

Asser.,  p.  495.  At  a  much  earlier  period,  an  English  bishop  procured  masons 
from  Gaul  to  construct  for  him  a  stone  church.  Misit  legatarios  Galliam  qui 
vitri  factores  (artifices  videlicet)  Britanniis  eateus  incognitos,  etc.  Beda,  Ecc. 
Hist.  From  this,  it  seems  the  process  of  erecting  stone  edifices  was  entirely 
unknown  to  the  British  people.  It  is  probable  that  these  foreign  artificers 
were  Greeks,  and  members  of  the  Byzantine  corporations,  to  whose  hands  almost 
the  whole  work  of  such  constructions  was,  in  those  remote  times,  committed. 

1  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  Europe,  Vol.  I.,  p.  6. 

2  Hallam,  Literature  of  Europe,  Vol.  I.,  p.  6.  For  a  complete  and  compre- 
hensive description  of  the  dialectic  corruption  of  the  Latin  language  existing 
in  France  at  this  period,  see  Villemain,  Tableau  de  la  Litterature  au  Moyen 
Age,  Tome  I.,  \\  1  and  2;  also,  Maffei,  Storia  delta  Letter.  Ital.,  Torao  I.,  p.  19. 
Although  no  well-founded  belief  can  be  accorded  to  the  assertion  that  Masonic 
records  in  the  French  language  existed  in  the  tenth  century,  the  allegation 
will  serve  to  indicate  that,  at  whatever  epoch  the  manuscript  under  exam- 
ination was  first  framed,  it  was  well  understood,  and  currently  accepted,  that 
French  Masons  had,  at  some  time,  brought  into  England  sufficient  Masonic  arts 
to  entitle  them  to  specific  mention.  Unity  of  traditions  between  the  mediaeval 
English  and  French  craftsmen  points  to  France  as  the  earliest  and  nearest 
source  where  Masonic  knowledge  was  procured. 

*Boyal  MSS.,  17,  Al,  folio  5. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


117 


authority  this  assemblage  of  Masons  has  been  referred  to 
a  definite  year  is  unknown,  hut,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  from 
the  fact  that  Edwin,  an  English  prince,  lived  about  the 
year  926.  As  to  the  style,  orthography,  or  lettering  of  the 
manuscript  in  question,  nothing  attests  Mr.  Halliwell's  as- 
sumption that  it  was  written  in  the  year  1390.  The  same 
reasoning  which  ascribes  it  to  the  close  of  the  fourteenth 
century  will  admit  of  assigning  an  origin  much  later,  per- 
haps to  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  However 
this  may  be,  I  am  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  this  MSS., 
which  is  lettered  and  numbered  in  the  library  of  the 
British  Museum  as  Royal  17,  Al,  has  been  copied  from 
an  older  and  more  ancient  parchment,  or  transcribed  from 
fragmentary  traditions.  My  opinion  is  based  upon  the  in- 
ternal evidence  which  certain  portions  of  the  manuscript 
present,  having  an  evident  reference  to  a  remote  antiquity. 
Among  other  ancient  charges,  it  is  ordained  that  no  mas- 
ter or  fellow  shall  set  any  layer,  within  or  without  the 
lodge,  to  hew  or  mould  stone.1  In  the  eleventh  article  of 
these  Constitutions,  one  of  the  reciprocal  duties  prescribed 
to  a  Mason  is : 

"  That  seeth  his  fellow  hewen  on  a  stone, 
And  this  then  pointeth  to  spoil  that  stone, 
Amend  that  stone,  and  help  him,"  etc.2 

In  this  connection,  I  quote  from  the  Cooke  MSS.,  JSTo. 
23,198,  that  the  copyist  had  before  him  an  older  parchment, 
which  contained  the  following  remarkable  phraseology  : 
"  And  it  is  said,  in  old  books  of  Masonry,  that  Solomon  con- 
firmed the  charges,"  etc.  According  to  the  Archceologia,3  until 

1  Halliwell  MSS.,  17,  Al.  The  quotations  and  references  which  follow  are 
copied  from  my  book  of  notes,  and  were  drawn  directly  from  the  several 
manuscripts  cited.  Hughan.  in  his  Old  Masonic  Charges,  has  given  to  the 
public  and  fraternity  nearly  the  entire  collection  of  Masonic  manuscripts, 
which,  until  recently,  remained  unpublished  in  the  British  Museum  Library 
and  elsewhere  in  England. 

2  Halliwell  MSS.  3  Vol.  IX.,  pp.  112, 113. 


118  THE  EARL  Y  HISVOR  Y  AND 


the  close  of  the  twelfth  century,  stones  were  hewn  out 
with  an  adze.  About  this  time  the  chisel  was  introduced, 
and  superseded  the  hewing  of  stone.  Thus  we  see  that 
the  words  "  hew  a  stone,"  had  descended  from  the  twelfth 
century,  at  least,  to  the  period  when  the  manuscript  first 
quoted  was  copied,  and,  being  found  in  the  roll  before  the 
copyist,  were  also  transcribed.  Moreover,  the  occurrence 
of  Charles  Martel's  name  in  the  MSS.  so  early  as  that  of 
Cooke,  indicates  that  the  tradition  of  his  connection  with 
the  masons  or  stonecutters  had  long  obtained  among;  the 
fraternity  in  England.  It  is  highly  probable  that  this 
legend  was  carried  there  by  foreign  workmen  from  the 
Continent,  where,  as  we  have  seen,  this  tradition  was 
extant  as  early  as  the  year  1254. 

No  mention  is  made,  in  the  French  ordinances  of  Louis 
IX.,  of  a  certain  Namus  Graecus,  who,  as  stated  in  the  older 
manuscripts,1  was  a  curious  man,  and  had  been  at  the  build- 
ing of  King  Solomon's  temple.  From  thence  he  passed, 
in  bold  defiance  of  all  chronology,  after  a  mighty  slumber, 
into  France,  and  there  taught  the  stout-hearted  Charles 
Martel,  or  Marshall2 — the  latter,  no  doubt,  an  error  of  the 
transcriber — the  science  of  masonry.  I  merely  advert  to 
this  strange  statement  of  Namus  Graecus  as  furnishing 
additional,  but  conjectural,  evidence  that  Masonic  guilds 
recognized  a  Grecian  origin  of  many  things  perpetuated 
in  their  lodges,  and  that  when  they  were  actually  organ- 
ized, in  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century,  the  same  Byzan- 
tine traditions  which  had  prevailed  among  the  lay  cor- 
porations and  monastic  workmen  of  an  early  age  passed 
to  the  medieval  Freemasons.  The  name  of  Namus,  or,  as 
the  old  York  MSS.  style  him,  Naymus  Graecus,  simply 
signifies  Naymus  the  Grecian.    To  what  age  his  original 

1  Cooke  MSS.,  No.  23,198,  and  Dowland's  MSS.,  in  Hughan,  Old  Masonic 
Charges,  p.  26. 

2  From  whatever  source  Anderson  obtained  the  knowledge  for  his  Ancient 
Constitutions,  it  also  furnished  the  tradition  of  Charles  Martel.    Ibid.,  p.  30. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


119 


connection  with  the  legends  of  the  craft  should  be  assigned, 
is  beyond  recovery.  But  this  name,  attesting  thus  its  own 
derivation,  seems  to  assume  that  he  was  a  Byzantine 
artificer,  or  that  he  belonged  to  one  of  the  Greek  corpora- 
tions of  builders,  whose  existence  was  clearly  maintained 
throughout  Europe  from  the  fifth  to  the  eleventh  centuries. 

I  have  enlarged  upon  the  traditional  relations  of  Tamils  ' 
the  Grecian  with  the  earlier  building  associations,  deem- 
ing that  legend  so  far  trustworthy  as  developing  a  clew 
to  the  route  by  which  such  portions  of  Freemasonry  as 
can  be  fairly  traceable  to  Oriental  influence,  came  to  be 
incorporated  into  the  legendary  lore  of  Middle  Age  fra- 
ternities,, and,  subsequently,  constituting  an  essential  part 
of  lodge  ritual.  That  this  was  the  accepted  view  by  the 
ancient  craftsmen  in  early  ages,  is  palpable,  and  that  the 
assumption  was  a  correct  one,  is  clearly  proven  by  the 
uniformity  and  unvarying  constancy  with  which  the  an- 
cient manuscripts1  assert  that  Eamus  the  Grecian  brought 
masonry,  or  the  building  art,  from  the  East.  This  name 
has  descended  to  our  day  through  all  the  intervening 
changes  of  time.  It  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of 
secular  or  profane  authors,  nor  does  it  appear  in  the  event- 
ful periods  of  ecclesiastical  history.  It  is  the  only  name 
mentioned  in  these  venerable  Masonic  records  whose  sig- 
nificance tends  towards  a  solution  of  the  difficult  problem, 
at  what  remote  period  of  European  history  the  details  of 
art  were  translated  from  the  Orient  by  Greek  builders, 
and  also  implies  the  original  belief  among  mediaeval  Free- 
masons that,  through  Grecian  operatives,  the  secrets  of 
architectural  construction  had  come  down  to  their  time. 
In  addition  to  this,  the  manuscripts  assert  that  at  the 
mythical  Masonic  convocation  at  York  there  were  records2 

1  Lansdowne  MSS.,  No.  98;  Cooke  MSS.,  No.  23,198. 

2  Ibid. ;  also,  Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Charges,  pp.  28,  etc.  The  Lansdowne 
MSS.,  No.  98,  say  there  were  some  in  Hebrew.  Anderson,  Constitutions, 
p.  33. 


120 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


written  in  Greek,  showing,  conclusively,  to  what  extent 
these  early  English  masons  acknowledged  themselves  in- 
debted to  the  Grecian  or  Byzantine  artificers. 

The  old  chronicles  of  the  craft  further  relate,  that 
Masonry  was  introduced  into  France  by  ^N"amus  the  Gre- 
cian, who  instructed  Charles  Martel  in  the  science.  As 
we  have  already  stated,  the  first  known  master  masons 
on  British  soil  were  foreigners  and  Frenchmen,  —  John 
Moreau,  a  Parisian,  and  William,  a  native  of  Sens  —  the 
former  of  whom,  early  in  the  twelfth  century,  was  master 
of  Scottish  masons:  the  latter,  in  1176,  rebuilt  the  cathe- 
dral of  Canterbury.  It  is  well  known  that  William  the 
Conqueror  deluged  the  whole  of  England 1  with  foreign 
artificers,  whom  he  brought  with  him  or  ordered  from 
France,  and  the  almost  utter  extinction  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  social  element,2  either  by  proscription  or  gradual 
merging  into  the  Norman,  rendered  it  necessary  that 
public  edifices,  if  constructed  at  all,  should  be  erected  by 
competent  workmen  imported  from  abroad.  France,  at 
this  time,  possessed  such  artisans,  because,  according  to  the 
admission  of  the  quaint  chronicles  hitherto  quoted,  long 
prior  to  this  epoch,  Naymus,  a  Grecian,  had  carried  the 
science  of  masonry  into  France  and  taught  it  to  Charles 
Martel,  conceding,  upon  the  force  of  tradition,  that  masonic 
art,  or  the  rules  of  architecture,  were  also  produced  upon 
French  soil  by  a  Grecian  or  Byzantine  operative.  And  it 
is  none  the  less  singular  or  significant,  that  the  Parisian 
stonecutters,  in  the  year  1254,  asserted  their  independence 
of  certain  civil  duties,  by  reason  of  an  exemption  or  pre- 


1  Hope,  Historical  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  407 ;  Hawkins,  History 
of  the  Origin  of  Gothic  Architecture,  pp.  115-16 ;  also,  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der 
Bauknnst,  3  Ab.,  cap.  34. 

2  Thierry,  Histoire  de  la  Oonquete  de  VAngleterre  par  les  Normans,  Tome  I.,  p. 
110,  etc.  This  author  presents  an  incident  of  a  Norman  king,  who  was  unable 
tp  comprehend  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect  when  addressed  by  one  of  his  sub- 
jects.   Consult  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Arch,  in  England,  chap.  viL 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


121 


scriptive  right,  which  they  traced,  through  all  the  interme- 
diate changes  of  time,  directly  to  the  same  Charles  Martel ! 1 
When  the  demands  of  the  Norman  conquerors  made  it 
essential  to  have  skilled  laborers  for  the  construction  of 
sacred  and  other  edifices,  such  workmen  were  procured 
from  France  in  great  numbers.2 

Forty-nine  years  after  the  death 3  of  William,  the  Nor- 
man king,  John  Moreau,  a  Frenchman,  had  lain  the  foun- 
dation walls  of  that  gorgeous  fabric,  Melrose  Abbey,  and, 
in  a  lasting  record,  alleged  himself  to  be  the  master  of  all 
masonic  work  along  the  river  Tweed,  on  the  south  border 
of  Scotland,  and  in  Glasgow.  Whatever  traditions  and 
usages  the  French  stonemasons  possessed  at  this  epoch, 
without  doubt,  passed  over  with  them  into  England,  and, 
through  them,  obtained  currency  in  that  kingdom.  I  am 
inclined  to  place  the  translation  of  the  legend  of  Charles 
Martel,  and  a  knowledge  of  Naymus  Graecus,  into  Great 
Britain  at  this  era,  together  with  such  usages  and  customs 
of  the  fraternity  as  were  practised  by  the  Freemasons  of 
France.  This  view  of  the  subject  under  consideration 
has  an  undoubted  weight  of  reason  and  evidence,  both 
legendary  and  historical,  over  the  visionary  assumption 
that  all,  or  nearly  all,  Masonic  rites  and  ceremonies,  besides 
the  mediaeval  art  knowledge  of  the  craft,  are  the  lineal 
descendants  of  the  ancient  Roman  building  colleges ; 
especially  when  it  is  stated  that  the  relentless  power  of 
the  early  emperors  of  Rome  crushed  out  the  vital  forces 
of  these  associations,  and  actually  forbade  them  corporate 
existence.4  When,  however,  the  emergencies  involved  in 
the  construction  of  a  new  capital  for  the  Roman  empire 
demanded  organized  bodies  of  builders,  such  corporations 
were  formed  at  Byzantium,  under  permission  and  patron- 

1  Boileau,  Reglemens  sur  Metiers,  cap.  48. 

2  Hope,  On  Architecture,  chap,  xxxviii.  8  A.  D.  1087. 

4  Suetonius,  Vif.  Jul.,  c.  42.    This  subject,  in  its  bearing  upon  the  internal 
history  of  Freemasonry,  will  be  resumed  in  Part  II.  of  this  work. 
11 


122 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


age  of  imperial  authority.  The  reference  to  Charles  Mar- 
tel,  in  Boileau's  digest  of  laws  affecting  the  trades,  and 
confirmed  by  the  English  records,  seems  to  point  to  the 
age  of  the  Carlovingian  dynasty1  as  the  period  when  Gallic 
stonecutters  or  masons  recognized  the  concession  made 
them,  which  had  been  perpetuated  to  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. Taken  collectively  with  the  tradition  of  Naymus 
Graecus,  this  allusion  to  so  remote  a  period  might  allow  us 
to  infer  that,  under  the  patronage  of  early  German  kings, 
the  Byzantine  stonecutters  exercised  a  widespread  and 
salutary  influence  in  architectural  and  plastic  art  in  Ger- 
many, and  as  foreigners,  sojourning  distant  from  the  land 
of  their  birth,  they  were  permitted,  by  royal  mandate,  to 
live  in  accordance  with  such  laws  as  they  elected,2  and,  in 
consequence,  received  exemption  from  many  duties  to 
which  the  citizens  of  the  empire  were  subjected.  Among 
these  privileges,  it  is  fairly  inferable  that  freedom  from 
municipal  watch  duty  would  be  the  most  natural,  and  as 
such,  the  Grecian  corporations  at  labor  in  Germany  ob- 
tained this  concession,  and  transmitted  the  same  unim- 
paired to  their  successors,  the  stonecutters  of  Paris,  where 
we  find  it  in  existence  as  an  old  established  custom  in  the 
year  1254. 

Among  other  French  master  masons,  in  addition  to 
those  already  cited,  who  followed  the  tide  of  travel  toward 
England,  mention  is  made3  of  Masericius,  a  Lanfranc, 
Robert  de  Blois,  R£mi  de  Fecamp,  and  Robert  de  Losenge. 
Foreign  architects  conducted  the  erection  of  the  most  im- 
portant cathedrals  on  British  soil,  and  continued  to  do  so 


1  Cooke's  manuscript,  No.  23,198,  says  Charles  II.,  instead  of  Martel.  All 
others,  I  believe,  agree. 

2  See  supra,  p.  30,  et  seq.,  where  this  doctrine  of  a  personal  profession  of  law 
is  fully  discussed. 

3  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  406,  407 ;  Poole,  Eccles.  Archit.  in 
England,  pp.  92,  124,  126  ;  also  Hawkins,  Hist,  of  Origin  of  Gothic  Architec- 
ture, pp.  115-16. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


123 


until  the  total  extinction  of  the  knowledge  involved  in 
the  Gothic  arch.  German  Freemasons  also  aided  in  the 
construction  of  English  churches  and  abbeys  and  other 
public  edifices.  A  German  Master  Mason,  by  the  name  of 
Klaus  or  Kloos,  built  King's  College  chapel  at  Cambridge, 
the  finest  Gothic  structure  in  England.1 

That  the  German  Masonic  fraternity  exercised  a  decided 
influence  upon  architecture  in  Great  Britain  at  an  early 
age,  is  undeniable,  and,  in  addition  to  the  fact  that  many 
elegant  cathedrals  were  erected  there  in  Gothic  style,  as  in 
the  case  of  King's  College  chapel,  just  cited,  of  which  the 
plans  and  designs  were  prepared  by  a  German  master,  this 
assumption  is  based  upon  other  ground  than  the  preceding. 
The  earliest  records  now  extant  relating  to  the  stonecut- 
ters of  Germany,  allude  to  four  Christian  engravers,2  who 
had  received  the  crown  of  martyrdom  under  Diocletian  for 
refusing  to  perform  certain  work  to  be  used  in  the  decora- 
tion of  a  heathen  temple.  They  are  denominated,  in  direct 
allusion  to  the  sacred  cause  of  their  death,  quator  coronati. 

When  the  German  masons  arrived  in  England,  they 
brought  with  them  a  thorough  and  practical  knowledge 
of  the  secret  details  of  that  art  which  constitutes  the  chief 
attractions  of  Gothic  architecture.  They  also  naturally 
carried  over  the  usages,  customs,  and  traditions  which 
were  current  among  the  fraternity  in  their  native  country. 
The  most  convincing  proof  that  this  allegation  is  a  correct 
one,  is  the  acceptation  of  the  tradition  touching  these  four 
martyrs  by  the  English  Middle- Age  Freemasons.  It  is  in- 
corporated in  Halli  well's  manuscript  as  a  portion  of  the 
legendary  history  of  the  craft,  and  is  referred  to  in  such  a 

1  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  407 ;  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der 
Baukunst,  p.  528 ;  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture,  p.  118,  refers  to  one  John 
Wastel  as  the  master  mason  of  this  building,  perhaps  at  a  subsequent  period. 

2  Oi'dnunge  der  Steinmetzen  zu  Strassburg ;  Krause,  Die  Drei  azllest.  Kunstur- 
kunden,  Bd.  II.,  Abt.  2,  69.  There  designated  "  Diener  der  Heiligen  vier  ge- 
kronten." 


124 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


manner  as  to  warrant  the  conclusion  that  the  tradition 
had  long  obtained  with  British  Masons.  The  following 
constitutes  the  whole  of  this  legend,  which  was  transcribed 
directly  from  the  manuscript  itself: 

"  Pray  we  now  to  God  Almyght, 
And  to  his  swete  modr  Mary  bryglit, 
Yat  me  mowe  kepe  yese  articulus  here, 
And  yese  poyntes  well  al  yfere, 
As  dede  yese  holy  martyres  fowre, 
Yat  in  yys  craft  were  of  gret  honoure, 
Yey  were  as  god  masons  as  on  erthe  shul  go, 
Gravers  and  image  makers  yey  were  also, 
For  they  were  werkmen  of  ye  beste, 
Ye  Empor  hade  to  hem  gret  luste, 
He  wylned  of  hem  a  ymage  to  make, 
Yt  mowt  be  worshiped  for  hys  sake, 
Such  mawmetys  he  hade  yu  hys  dawe, 
To  turne  ye  pepal  from  Crysti's  lawe, 
But  yey  were  stedfast  yn  Cstis  lay, 
And  to  their  craft  wtouten  nay."  1 

The  quaint  chronicle  further  proceeds  to  narrate  that 
these  stonecutters,  or  gravers,  as  they  are  called,  persist- 
ing in  their  refusal  to  carve  out  the  emperor's  image  for 
public  reverence,  were  first  imprisoned,  and  subsequently, 
by  the  enraged  ruler's  order,  put  to  death.  This  estab- 
lishes a  more  or  less  remote  connection  between  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  German  craftsmen  and  those  of  the  English 
Freemasons.2  No  doubt  many  things  still  practised  within 
the  tiled  recesses  of  Masonic  lodges,  at  all  traceable  to 
German  or  Teutonic  sources,  are  evidently  the  contribu- 
tions of  both  the  Gallic  and  German  Masons,  who,  thus  early 
in  the  history  of  Freemasonry,  had  imparted  their  several 
legends  to  their  British  brethren. 

1  Kloss,  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer  wahren  Bedeutung,  p.  257,  et  seq.,  gives  complete 
details  touching  these  martyrs.  Also  Krause,  Die  Drei  celtest.  Kunsturkunden, 
Bd.  I.,  Ab.  2,  p.  405 ;  II.,  Ab.  2,  p.  287. 

2  Kloss,  ut  supra,  p.  315. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

English  Freemasons  Possess  no  Unusual  Privileges — Under  Wil- 
liam of  Wykeham,  they  Decline  Statutory  Wages  —  Act  of  3 
Henry  VI.,  Declaring  Masonic  Chapters  and  Convocations 
Void  and  Illegal,  Terminates  the  Fraternity  as  a  Close  Or- 
ganization of  Craftsmen  —  Ancient  Kites  and  Customs  still 
Maintained  in  Lodges  —  Contract  of  a  Lodge  for  Tiling  in 
Reign  of  Henry  VI.  —  Manuscript  of  this  Monarch  —  Masons 
Obliged  to  Obey  Royal  Warrant  —  Signs  and  Tokens  Forbidden 
Guilds  in  Fifteenth  Century  —  Lodges  of  the  FreExMASons  — 
Persons  of  High  Position  Initiated  at  an  Early  Period  into 
Masonic  Lodges  —  Clergy  Elected  to  Membership  in  Guilds. 

CCORDDsG  to  Dallawaj,1  the  Master  Masons  of 
England  were  frequently  employed  in  govern- 
ment service,  by  applying  the  practical  knowl- 
edge of  which  they  were  possessed  to  the  in- 
vention of  military  stratagems.  English  guilds  of  Free- 
masons do  not  appear  to  have  been  privileged  beyond 
other  craft  associations.  In  the  year  1351,  a  number  of 
operative  masons,  employed  in  the  construction  of  Windsor 
Castle,  under  the  direction  of  William  of  Wykeham  as 
master  of  the  work  —  magister2  operum  —  declined  accepting 
the  wages3  due  them  as  regulated  by  an  act  of  Par- 

1  Historical  Account  of  Master  and  Freemason,  p.  420. 

2  This  was  the  nomenclature  bestowed  upon  the  superintending  builder,  but 
by  no  means  confined  to  Masonic  fraternities.  See  Du  Cange,  Gloss.  Med.  et 
Infim.  Lat.,  sub  voce. 

3  It  might  be  a  subject  of  curious  speculation  to  know  the  causes  which  in- 

11*  125 


126 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


liament,  abandoned  the  work,  and  refused  to  proceed 
further.  In  order  that  these  contumacious  masons  might 
be  adequately  punished  and  held  in  check  for  the  future, 
the  statute  of  24  Edward  III.  was  enacted,  giving 
requisite  authority  to  compel  the  recalcitrants  to  resume 
their  labors,  under  the  penalty,  after  due  notice,  of  being 
branded.  Statutes  regulating  the  prices  of  mechanical 
handicraft  were  frequently  passed,  and  as  repeatedly 
broken  by  the  masons.1 

The  act  of  1356,  passed  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  the  reign 
of  Edward  III.,  forbid  certain  combinations  or  congrega- 
tions of  laborers,  whereby,  it  was  alleged,  the  mechanics 
and  artificers  were  incited  to  unjust  and  illegal  demands, 
contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  English  Constitution.  This 
law  proving,  in  a  measure,  inoperative,2  the  power  of  the 
British  Parliament  was  again  invoked,  and  the  following 
famous  statute  was  enacted  in  the  year  1424,  and  styled 
8  Henry  VI.,  cap.  i. : 

"  En  primis  come  par  les  annuels  congregations  et 
confederacies  faite  par  les  masons  en  leur  Generalz  Chapi- 
ters3 assemblez,  le  bon  cours  et  effect  des  statutes  de 


duced  these  operatives  to  rebel ;  at  all  events,  it  is  noteworthy  that  after  this 
era,  almost  all  mason  work  in  England  was  done  by  contract,  under  seal.  In 
these  indentures,  everything  touching  the  character  of  materials  and  wages 
of  master  masons  was  specified  with  legal  accuracy,  so  that  there  could 
thenceforth  be  no  misunderstanding.  Kymer,  Fcedera,  etc.,  Tome  III.,  P.  IV., 
p.  104,  et  seq.,  gives  one  of  these  indentures  in  Norman-French,  in  which  the 
king  contracts  with  Eichard  Washbourn  and  John  Swalwe,  masons,  to  con- 
struct Westminster  Hall,  and  is  dated  1395.  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture, 
p.  383,  publishes  a  Latin  indenture  of  the  year  1398,  between  a  prior  and 
John  Middleton,  mason,  cementarium ;  this  word  was  used  for  mason  in 
France  exclusively.    Hawkins,  Hist,  of  Orig.  Goth.  Arch.,  p.  107. 

1  Archceologia,  Vol.  IX.,  pp.  119  and  120. 

2  Dallaway,  Historical  Account  of  Master  and  Freemason,  p.  425. 

3  From  this  phraseology  —  en  leur  generalz  chapitres  assemblez  —  there  is 
no  doubt  the  Freemasons  had  long  been  accustomed  to  meet  in  a  general  or 
grand  body  each  year,  to  legislate  upon  all  matters  pertinent  to  the  well-being 
of  the  craft. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  127 


labourers  sont  publiquement  violez  et  desrompez  en  sub 
version  de  la  loye  et  grevouse  damage  de  la  commune, 
nostre  seigneur  le  roi  voullant  en  ees  cas  pourvoir  le 
remedie,  par  advis  et  assent  susditz  et  a  l'especial  request 
de  ditz  communes  ait  ordine  et  establi  que  tieux  cbapitres 
et  congregations,  ne  soient  desore  tenez ;  et  si  ascuns 
tielz  soient  faitz,  soient  ceux  qui  soient  convictz,  adjugez 
pour  felons ;  et  que  tous  les  autres  masons  qui  veignent  as 
tielz  chapitres  et  congregations  soient  punitz  par  em- 
presonement  de  le  corps  et  facent  fyn  et  rauncisn  a  la 
volonte  du  roi." 

It  would  seem  that  the  process  issued  against  the 
masons  for  an  alleged  violation  of  this  law,  or  for  any 
infraction  of  contracts  solemnly  entered  into,  was  the 
capias  corpus  —  a  writ  still  familiar  in  legal  practice. 
Gouveneur  Po^iall 1  asserts,  in  the  most  positive  manner, 
that  "this  statute  ended  these  bodies  in  England,"  so  far 
as  the  closeness  of  their  organization  permitted  them  to 
control  the  various  branches  of  architectural  art  or  other 
mechanical  trades  appurtenant  to  this  science.  In  other 
words,  this  act  of  Henry  VI.,  under  the  penalties  men- 
tioned, forbid  the  masons  assembling  as  a  body  of  opera- 
tive workmen,  in  order  to  regulate  wages  or  to  arrange 
upon  what  terms  apprentices  should  be  received  into  the 
lodges.  This  authority,  which,  no  doubt,  in  early  ages 
was  conceded  them  from  necessity,  was  revoked  by  the 
foregoing  statute  ;  and  thereafter  all  matters  appertaining 
to  wages  and  apprentices  were  legislated  upon  by  Parlia- 
ment.2   Although,  from  the  year  1424,  Masonic  convoca- 

1  Archceologia,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  120. 

2  Anderson,  Ancient  Constitutions,  p.  36,  note  (*),  thinks  this  act  was  an  out- 
growth of  ignorance  and  clerical  illiteracy  —  that  all  learning,  etc.,  was  the 
special  property  of  the  Masons  of  that  age.  Preston,  Illustrations  of  Masonry, 
p.  118,  however,  does  not  agree  entirely  with  this  view,  but  attempts  to  ground 
the  passage  of  the  above  law  on  political  troubles.  The  oft-quoted  opinion 
of  Lord  Coke,  III.  Institute,  folio  19,  touching  the  effect  of  subsequent  enact- 
ments upon  this  statute,  fails  to  touch  the  point  in  question. 


128 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


tions,  composed  of  operatives  who  claimed  the  powers 
hitherto  assumed,  ceased  to  exist,  nevertheless  these  arti- 
ficers still  met  in  their  lodges  and  practised  the  original 
rites  and  ceremonies  of  initiation.1  These  guilds  continued 
to  survive  merely  as  cluhs,  which  were  instituted  in  lieu 
of  the  chapters,  and  directed  their  attention  almost  exclu- 
sively to  benevolence.2 

During  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.,  a  body  of  Freemasons 
entered  into  contract  with  the  churchwardens  of  a  parish 
in  Suffolk  to  undertake  certain  work  for  them,  but  ex- 
pressly stipulated  that  a  lodge,  properly  tiled,  should  be 
erected  for  them  at  the  expense  of  the  church,  in  which  to 
hold  their  meetings.3  It  has  been  alleged4  that  this 
monarch  granted  the  masons  many  concessions,  which 
distinguished  them  from  other  craft  guilds  and  fraterni- 
ties, as  a  particular  object  of  his  royal  favor.  Dallaway, 
whose  treatise  on  the  Matter  and  Freemason5  indicates  a 
careful  and  rigid  scrutiny  of  authorities,  asserts  that  this 
assumption  is  unwarranted,  and  that,  on  the  contrary,  this 
king,  instead  of  singling  out  the  Masonic  fraternity  for 
especial  esteem,  permitted  them  no  exclusive  privileges  as 
a  society.6  The  researches  of  this  writer  develop  the  incon- 
testable fact  that  certain  concessions  were  granted  to  other 
corporations  of  tradespeople  which  were  denied  the  Masons.7 

1  Archceologia,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  120.  2  Ibid.,  p.  121. 

3  Hope,  Hist.  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  238.  It  was  usual  to  stipu- 
late for  lodges,  which,  perhaps,  were  anciently  used  as  sleeping  apartments. 
In  an  indenture,  dated  1395,  the  king  agrees  to  lodge  the  Masons:  le  Hoy 
trouvera  Herbergage  pur  les  ditz  Masons  et  lour  compaignons —  for  the  Masons 
and  fellows.    Rymer,  Fozdera,  Tome  III.,  P.  IV.,  p.  104,  etc. 

4  "In  1442,  he  was  initiated  into  Masonry,  and  from  that  time  spared  no 
pains  to  obtain  a  complete  knowledge  of  the  art,  ....  and  honored  them 
with  his  sanction."  Preston,  Illustrations  of  Masonry,  p.  124;  Anderson's 
Ancient  Constitutions,  p.  36. 

5  Historical  Account  of  Master  and  Freemason,  p.  426. 

6  Dallaway,  Ibid.,  p.  425.  A  candid  examination  of  the  customs  and  pre- 
rogatives enjoyed  by  other  guilds  will  lead  the  inquirer  to  the  same  conclusion. 

7  Ibid.,  p.  426. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


129 


The  attempt  has  often  "been  made  to  prove  that  Henry 
VI.  was  a  zealous  patron  of  the  Freemasons.1  A  curious 
manuscript,2  purporting  to  have  been  drawn  up  in  the 
king's  own  handwriting,  is  frequently  cited  to  attest  his 
affection  for  the  craft.  The  weakness  of  Henry  VI. 's 
intellect  is  well  known,  and  also  his  disposition  to  pry 
into  the  mysteries  of  that  strange  science  of  alchemy.  It 
is  possible  that  his  attention  may  have  been  directed  to 
the  mystic  rites  which  were  practised  in  the  initiation 
into  the  secrets  of  Masonry,  as  furnishing  him  a  probable 
solution  of  the  problem  involved  in  the  pursuit  of  the 
Philosopher's  stone.  However,  the  original  manuscript,  of 
which  a  copy3  is  said  to  have  been  found  in  the  year  1748 
in  Germany,  has  never  been  produced.  It  is  claimed  that 
a  transcript  of  the  same,  with  the  royal  autograph  attached, 
was  made  by  the  antiquarian,  John  Ley  land  ;  but  on  com- 
parison with  other  signatures  of  the  king,  according  to 
Dallaway,4  it  has  been  pronounced  spurious. 

Whenever  the  services  of  the  Freemasons  were  required 
in  the  erection  of  edifices,  they  were  obliged  to  obey  the 
royal  mandate  or  letters  patent.5  This  order  was  usually 
drawn  in  favor  of  the  person  who  designed  building,  and 

1  Preston,  ut  supra,  p.  124;  Anderson,  Ancient  Constitutions,  p.  36. 

2  Krause,  Die  Drei  celtesten  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  I.,  Ab.  1,  p.  20. 

3  See  Introductory  Essay  to  Hutchinson's  Spirit  of  Masonry,  p.  13,  etc.,  for  full 
information  touching  this  manuscript.    Also,  infra,  Part  II.,  Faculty  of  Abrac. 

4  Historical  Account  of  Master  and  Freemason,  p.  429. 

5  Ibid.,  p.  426.  Halliwell's  MBS.  contains  the  following  regulation  for  the 
punishment  of  disobedient  members : 

"  The  scheref  schal  come  hem  sone  to, 
And  putte  here  bodyes  yn  deeppe  prison, 
For  the  trespass  that  they  hav  y-don, 
And  take  here  goodes  and  here  cattell 
Ynto  the  kynges  hand,  every  delle, 
And  let  hem  dwelle  here  ful  stylle, 
Tyl  hyt  be  our  lege  kynge's  wylle."   12th  P. 

This  confirms  Anderson,  Ancient  Constitutions,  p.  34,  note  (*) ;  also,  Brentano. 
Prefatory  Essay  to  Hist,  of  Guilds,  p.  cxxvii. 

I 


130 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


commanded  the  craft  to  proceed  forthwith,  under  the  penalty 
of  fine  and  imprisonment,  to  render  such  services  as  were 
named  in  the  warrant,  and  by  it  they  were  bound  to  accept 
the  wages  prescribed  by  law.1  In  the  year  1495,  a  statute 
was  enacted  by  Parliament  forbidding  artisans  of  every 
description  the  use  of  "  signs  and  tokens."  About  the 
middle  of  the  ensuing  century,  the  statutes  which  pro- 
hibited the  craft  of  builders  from  freely  practising  their 
trade  according  to  ancient  usage  and  custom,  were  repealed  ; 
but  this  license  was  speedily  revoked,  excepting  so  far  as 
the  same  related  to  the  city  of  London.2  Whenever  infrac- 
tions were  proven  to  have  been  made  by  the  tradesmen  of 
the  royal  ordinances,  such  offences  were  cognizable  before 
a  justice  of  the  peace,  who  was  also  empowered  temporarily 
to  suspend  their  corporate  privileges,  or  to  revoke  them 
absolutely.3 

On  the  28th  of  April,  in  the  year  1610,  the  justices  of 
the  peace  established  the  following  legal  schedule  of  wages 
which  should  be  paid  this  class  of  artificers  :4 

With  Meat.  Without  Meat. 
s.      d.  d. 

A  freemason  which  can  draw  his  plot  and  set  accord  8     0  12 

A  rough  mason  which  can  take  charge  over  others  5     0  10 

A  bricklayer  4     0  8 

"  *     prentice  3     0  7 

The  following  rates  were  also  adopted5  by  the  same 
authorities,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  statute 
quoted,  at  a  subsequent  period,  perhaps,  to  the  foregoing: 

1  Brentano,  Hist,  of  the  Origin  and  Development  of  Guilds,  p.  cxlv. 

2  Consult  Toulman  Smith,  English  Guilds,  and  Brentano's  Essay,  prefixed, 
\  iv.,  where  the  general  tenor  of  the  laws  enacted  at  this  period  sufficiently 
attests  the  text. 

3  This  authority  was  given  by  virtue  of  a  statute,  passed  in  the  fifteenth 
year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.,  1437.  See  Brentano,  Hist,  and  Development 
of  Guilds,  p.  cxl. 

*  36  Charles  II. 

6  Archceoiogia,  Vol.  XL,  pp.  203,  208-9. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  131 


With  Meat  and  Drink.  Without  Meat. 


A  freemason  

A  master  bricklayer  

Servants  and  apprentices  above  18  years  old. 


8.  d.  s.  d. 

,6  0  14 

6  0  10 

4  0  0  8 


In  the  year  1689  the  wages  of  Freemasons  were  pre- 
scribed to  be  one  shilling  and  four  pence  per  diem.  To 
receive  more  subjected  them  to  a  penalty  of  twenty-one 
days'  imprisonment.1  From  these  several  enactments  it 
would  appear  that  the  corporations  of  builders,  after  the 
law  of  3  Henry  VI.,  1424,  had  ceased  to  have  an  existence, 
other  than  that  which  was  tolerated  upon  the  basis  simply 
•as  a  class  of  tradesmen,  without  any  special  prerogatives, 
and  whose  compensation  for  work  was  regulated  by  a  relent- 
less law.  They  could  exercise  no  discretion  as  against  the 
royal  warrant  commanding  them  to  labor  for  an  employer 
therein  named ;  neither  were  they  allowed  to  assemble  in 
secret  convocation,  only  for  the  purpose  of  performing  the 
harmless  ceremonies  of  initiation,  and  were,  under  the 
severest  penalties,  interdicted  from  combining  to  subvert 
any  law,  or  to  interfere  in  matters  of  civil  polity.  As  we 
have  before  remarked,  from  the  time  of  the  promulgation 
of  this  act,  the  Masonic  fraternity  was  perpetuated  almost 
entirely  as  a  beneficial  club,  whose  principal  object,  in  a 
mysterious  manner,  was  devoted  to  mutual  assistance  and 
benevolence.  It  is  in  the  highest  degree  probable,  that 
the  year  1424  is  the  proper  date  to  assign  for  the  cessation 
of  English  Freemasonry  as  a  strictly  operative  association, 
and  the  epoch  of  its  decided  tendency  towards  a  specula- 
tive science,  such  as  we  now  find  it.  The  rites  and  cere- 
monies, together  with  the  moral  instruction  which  had 
hitherto  been  in  vogue  in  the  lodges,  were  undoubtedly 
continued  under  the  new  regime.  It  is  equally  true,  I 
apprehend,  that  a  knowledge  of  the  building  art  was  also 


1  Ibid.,  p.  208;  Dal  la  way,  Historical  Account  of  Master  and  Freemason,  pp. 
426-7. 


1"32 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


still  procurable  from  the  masters  who  composed  these  bodies 
of  Masons,  until  the  gradually  changing  current  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  the  general  advancement  of  intelligence  deeper 
down  among  the  people  at  large,  combined  with  the  more 
rapid  introduction  of  men  of  social  position  into  these 
lodges,  attracted  perhaps  by  the  novelty  presented  in  the 
initiatory  rites  and  conviviality,  ultimately  extinguished 
their  operative  character.  That  many  details  of  archi- 
tectural art  have  been  lost  by  the  extinction  of  this  feature 
'  of  Freemasonry  is  not  denied,  but  acknowledged  on  all 
sides  as  a  lamentable  fact.1  Since  the  Freemasons  were 
forbidden  to  convene  as  a  body  of  artificers,  who  performed, 
their  work  in  the  secret  recesses  of  the  lodge,  strongly  tiled, 
to  prevent  any  but  the  initiated  from  entering,  they  turned 
their  attention  to  preserving  the  original  framework  of 
Masonry  as  a  moralistic  organization.  By  the  crushing 
power  of  the  statute  of  3  Henry  VI.,  the  Masons  were  not 
allowed  to  exercise  their  mechanical  handicraft  within 
guarded  doors  ;  neither  were  they  permitted  to  arrogate  the 
liberty  of  regulating  the  price  of  their  labor,  nor  the  legisla- 
tive prerogative  of  establishing  ordinances  affecting  appren- 
tices, and  upon  what  they  should  be  accepted  as  such.2 
Heretofore  these  corporations  had  assumed  the  right,  and 
had  been  permitted  the  authority,  to  control  their  own 
members,  which  privilege  was,  perhaps,  an  outgrowth  of 
the  foreign  bodies  originally  incorporated  by  royal  warrant. 
They  had  claimed  the  powers  of  petty  justice,3  which  was 

1  Only  so  late  as  the  time  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  himself  a  distinguished 
Freemason,  this  architect  was  obliged  to  confess  his  inability  to  understand 
all  their  mysteries.  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  527 ;  Poole, 
Eccles.  Architecture,  p.  118. 

:  2  "In  1536,  it  became  necessary  to  pass  a  law  (28  Henry  VIII.)  forbidding 
the  Masters  of  the  several  corporations  to  take  an  oath  from  their  apprentices 
that  they  should  not  carry  on  the  trade  on  their  own  account,  without  their 
master's  consent."    Brentano,  Hist,  and  Development  of  Guilds,  p.  cxlix. 

3  Brentano,  Ibid.,  pp.  cxxvi.,  cxl.,  and  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  im  Mittcl- 
olter,  p.  319,  etc. 


t 

ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  133 


final;  they  had  presumed  to  establish  the  duration  of 
apprenticeship,  and  arrogated  the  prescriptive  right,  after 
such  term  of  service  expired,  to  arrest  the  apprentice  in  his 
advancement  to  a  degree  which  would  materially  increase 
his  profits  as  a  workman.  Through  the  agency  of  signs 
and  passwords,  they  rigidly  excluded  from  their  companion- 
ship all  uninitiates,1  and  forbid,  under  severe  penalties,  the 
communication  of  the  slightest  details  of  art  to  the  profane. 
All  this  constituted  a  monopoly  of  trade  of  the  closest 
organization,  and  the  result  could  be  prophesied.2 

In  the  advancing  strides  of  English  civilization,  when 
the  British  mind  was  rapidly  crystallizing  around  a  free- 
dom from  the  restraints  superinduced  by  feudal  monop- 
oly ; 3  when  the  full  and  complete  relations  of  regal  sov- 
ereignty were  settling  solidly  down  upon  a  basis  of  law, 
and  the  reciprocal  duties  of  Parliament  and  royalty  were 
understood  to  signify  that  all  legislation  affecting  the 
commonwealth  must  emanate  from  their  combined  voli- 
tion—  then  it  was  that  these  closely  organized  trades- 
unions  among  the  builders  were  remorsely  opened  to  the 
public,  and  all  prerogatives  hitherto  assumed  by  them 
were  solemnly  abrogated,  as  detrimental  to  the  common 
welfare,  and  in  subversion  of  legal  authority ;  or,  as  this 
salutary  enactment  reads :  "  Sont  publiquement  violez  et 
desrompez  en  subversion  de  la  loye  et  greviese  damage  de 
la  commune."  That  this  statute  was  earnestly  demanded, 
and  sadly  needed,  in  England,  cannot  be  denied.  Such  a 
law  should  be  found  upon  the  statute-book  of  every  coun- 
try, that  when  any  guild  or  corporation  of  men  assemble 
in  secret  conclave,  under  whatever  name  or  pretext, 
whether  it  be  of  trades-union,  or  to  exclude  any  skilled 

1  Krause,  Die  Drei  celtesten  Kunsterkunden,  Bd.  II.,  Ab.  2,  p.  276. 

2  The  struggles  between  the  craft-guilds  and  the  law-making  powers  in  this 
connection  are  carefully  narrated  by  Brentano,  Hist,  and  Develop,  of  Guilds, 
\  iv. 

3  See  Buckle,  Hist,  of  Civilization  in  England,  Vol.  I.,  chap,  vii, 

12 


134 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


labor,  native  or  foreign,  from  a  full  and  free  participation 
in  the  privileges  incident  to  mechanical  trades,  or  arro- 
gate the  right  to  legislate  what  shall  be  the  duration  of 
apprenticeship,  and  what  number  of  apprentices  may,  in 
their  wisdom,  be  allowed  to  each  master  mechanic  —  then 
this,  or  similar  legislative  enactment,  should  be  rigidly 
enforced,  to  crush  a  tendency  which  is  as  dangerous  to 
constitutional  liberty  as  it  is  injurious  to  healthy  trade 
and  social  morals. 

As  previously  stated,  the  opening  of  these  fraternities 
to  the  public  caused  the  members  to  direct  their  atten- 
tion to  the  perpetuation  of  secret  initiatory  rites.  During 
the  course  of  ensuing  centuries,  persons  who  had  no  im- 
mediate connection  with  any  mechanical  trade  were  appa- 
rently initiated  into  the  mystic  ceremonies  of  Freemasonry, 
and  were  received  or  accepted  as  Masons.  At  what  period 
such  persons,  not  tradespeople,  were  thus  accepted,  is  un- 
certain. I  am  inclined  to  the  belief  that  this  initiation 
was  conferred  upon  men  of  high  position  or  wealth  from  a 
very  early  age.  In  the  thirteenth  century,  as  we  have 
seen,  in  the  case  of  the  Parisian  stonecutters,  a  nobleman 
was  appointed  by  Louis  IX.  as  general,  or  grand  master, 
of  the  craft.1  According  to  Ungewitter,2  from  the  time  the 
guilds  in  Italy  acquired  a  positive  status,  and  obtained  a 
legal  corporate  recognition,  all  citizens  admitted  under 
oath  became,  ipse  facto,  full  members,  notwithstanding  they 
made  no  profession  of  the  trade  of  which  the  fraternity 
was  composed.  He  also  asserts,3  in  Pisa  the  nobility  were 
frequently  accepted  into  membership  in  various  guilds,  in 

1  Boileau,  Reglemens  sur  Les  Metiers  de  Paris,  Tit.  xlviii. 

2  Seitdem  die  Zuenfte  zu  bevorrichteten  Korperschaften  geworden  brachte 
diese  ihre  Eigenschaft  mit  sich,  dasz  Jeder  der  sich  in  eine  davon  aufnehmen 
liess,  vollig  als  Mitglied  gait,  wenn  er  gleich  nicht  von  dem  Gewerbe  war, 
von  welchera  sie  den  Namen  fiihrte.  Geschichte  des  Handels  u.  der  Industrie,  p. 
235. 

*  Selbst  Adlige  konnten  in  Pisa  auf  diesem  Wege  zu  den  offentlichen  Aem- 
tern  gelangen.    Ibid.,  ut  supra. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


135 


order  to  secure  the  influence  afforded  by  these  corpora- 
tions, and  thus  render  advancement  to  public  offices  less 
difficult.1  As  a  rule,  the  guilds  were  endowed  with  in- 
herent power  to  elect  their  masters  from  the  fraternity,  or 
from  men  of  high  rank.2  They  also  were  privileged  to 
select,  by  ballot,  any  reputable  citizen,  and  accept  him  as  a 
member.  One  guild  in  England,  whose  origin  was  trace- 
able beyond  the  Norman  conquest,  elected  the  clergy  to 
membership.3  King  Edward  III.  became  a  member  of  a 
guild  of  linen  armorers  in  London,  and  his  example  was 
frequently  followed  by  his  successors,  and  the  nobility  of 
the  kingdom.4  Preston5  says,  upon  the  authority  of  an 
old  manuscript,  in  the  time  of  this  monarch  the  sheriff, 
mayor,  or  aldermen  .of  the  city  in  which  the  lodge  of 
Masons  was  opened,  might  be  made  a  Fellow,  and  asso- 
ciated with  the  Master,  in  order  to  preserve  order  and 
decorum  among  the  craftsmen.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt 
the  assertion  of  the  record  referred  to  by  Preston,  that,  at 
the  time  alleged,  persons  of  social  standing,  as  sheriff 
and  other  civil  officers,  were  accepted  as  members  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  especially  when  it  is  considered  such 
usage  was  current  among  other  craft  guilds,  and  that  Ed- 
ward III.  himself  was  accepted  as  a  member  of  the  linen 
armorers'  association. 

1  Machiavelli,  Istorie  Florentine,  Tomo  I.,  p.  304,  says  that  Giano  della 
Bella,  deeply  interested  in  the  political  condition  of  Florence,  associated  him- 
self with  the  craft  guilds  in  order  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  city:  "dette 
animo  ai  capi  delle  Arti  a  riformare  la  citta." 

2  Brentano,  History  and  Origin  of  Guilds,  p.  cxxv.  In  the  year  1258,  there 
was  a  contest  at  Cologne  over  the  election  of  the  archbishop  to  an  office  in  a 
craft-guild.     See  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  im  Mittelalter>  p.  324. 

3  Toulman  Smith,  English  Guilds,  p.  287.  From  the  return  of  this  guild  it 
seems  to  have  come  within  the  purview  of  its  institution  to  found  a  school 
for  Jews.    Ibid.,  p.  288. 

4  Brentano,  ut  supra,  p.  cxxii. 

5  Illustrations  of  Masonry,  p.  113.  In  this  statement  he  is  followed  by  Ander- 
son, Ancient  Constitutions,  p.  34,  note  (*),  who  is  soundly  berated  by  Stein- 
brenner,  Origin  and  Early  History  of  Masonry,  p.  118,  for  so  doing. 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 


Freemasonry  in  Britain  in  the  Seventeenth  Century — Eli  as  Ash- 
mole,  the  Antiquarian,  Initiated  in  the  following  Century  — 
Plot's  Narrative  of  the  Craft  —  Zeal  among  People  of  Kank 
to  become  Craftsmen  and  "Accepted"  as  Masons  — Sir  Chris- 
topher Wren  as  Grand  Master  —  King  William  Receives  the 
Degrees  in  a  Lodge  at  Hampton  Court — Formation  of  a  Grand 
Lodge  in  the  Eighteenth  Century. 


T  is  perhaps  impossible  to  assign  an  accurate  date 
for  the  admission  of  non-professional  men  into 
the  lodges  of  Freemasons,  prior  to  the  close  of 
the  sixteenth  century.    The  earliest  authentic 


record  is  to  be  found  on  the  rolls  of  Saint  Mary's  Lodge, 
at  Edinburgh,  where  it  is  registered  that  John  Boswell,  of 
Auchinleck,  was  present  at  an  assembly  of  the  Lodge  in 
1600,1  and  that  Robert  Moray,  a  Quartermaster-General  of 
the  Scottish  army,  was  admitted  as  Mr.  (Master  ?2)  in  the  year 
1641.  Elias  Ashmole,  the  learned  antiquary,  and  author  of 
an  elaborate  history  of  the  Knight  Templars,  made  the  follow- 
ing memorandum  in  his  gossiping  memoirs,  on  the  16th  of 
October,  1646  :  "  4  hor.  30  minutes  past  meridem,  I  was 
made  a  Freemason  at  Warrington,  in  Lancashire,  with 
Colonel  Henry  Mainwaring,  of  Kerticham,  in  Cheshire. 
The  names  of  those  that  were  at  the  Lodge :  Mr.  Richard 
Penkert,  warden,  Mr.  Jas.  Collier,  Mr.  Richard  Sankey, 
Henry  Lettler,  J ohn  El  lam,  and  Hugh  Brewer."  From  this 

1  Lyon,  History  of  Mary  Chapel  Lodge,  pp.  96-7.  2  "Indefinite  in  a  Masonic 
sense."    Hughan,  in  Masonic  Magazine,  p.  212,  anno.  1875. 

136 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


137 


citation,  it  appears  that  one  Col.  Henry  Mainwaring,  an 
English  officer,  was  initiated  with  Ashmole,  in  the  year 
1646.  It  is  not  improbable  that  Elias  Ashmole  may  have 
sought  a  knowledge  of  the  mysteries  of  Freemasonry,  pre- 
suming, perhaps,  upon  the  service  it  might  afford  him  in 
preparing  his  history  of  chivalry.  Under  the  date  of  1682, 
an  additional  entry  was  made  in  his  diary  :  "  March  10. 
Received  a  summons  to  appear  before  a  lodge  at  Masons' 
Hall,  London.  11th.  Went,  and  was  admitted  into  the 
fellowship  of  Freemasons  by  Sir  William  Wilson,  Knt. 
Was  senior  Fellow,  being  thirty-five  years  since  making. 
Dined  at  dinner,  at  expense  of  the  new  accepted  Mason." 
In  this  connection,  it  is  a  subject  of  curious  speculation  as 
to  the  identity  of  Richard  Sankey,  a  member  of  the  above 
lodge.  Sloane's  MSS.,1  No.  3848,  was  transcribed  and 
finished  by  one  Edward  Sankey,  on  the  16th  day  of 
October,  1646,  the  day  Elias  Ashmole  was  initiated  into 
the  secrets  of  the  craft !  It  is  clearly  deducible,  I  think, 
from  the  foregoing  citations,  that,  during  the  seventeenth 
century,  Freemasonry  had  practically  ceased  to  be  a  society 
composed  of  operative  masons,  and  that,  from  the  opening 
to  the  close  of  this  century,  no  artistic  or  mechanical 
knowledge  was  a  qualification  necessary  for  admission 
into  the  fraternity,  and  that  the  guarded  doors  of  lodges 
were  freely  opened  to  unprofessional  citizens. 

In  the  year  1686,  Plot  says,2  in  the  most  emphatic  terms, 
that  although  the  Freemasons  were  still  a  body  of  opera- 

1  The  terminal  page  bears  the  following  attestation : 

"  Finis  p  me  Eduardu  Sankey 
decimo  sexto  die  Octobris  Anno  Domini  1646." 

Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Charges,  p.  47,  et  seq.,  has  given  this  manuscript  to  the 
public. 

2  Natural  History  of  Staffordshire,  \\  85,  86.  "Customs,  etc.,  whereof  they 
have  one  of  admitting  men  into  the  society  of  Freemasons,  that  in  the  moor- 
lands of  the  country  be  of  great  request,  than  anywhere  else,  though  I  find 
the  custom  spread  more  or  less  all  over  the  nation,  for  here  I  found  persons  of 
the  most  exalted  estates  that  did  not  disdain  to  be  of  the  fellowship,"  etc. 

•  12* 


138 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


tive  workmen,  actually  employed  in  the  construction  of 
public  edifices,  there  was  much  zeal  manifested  among  the 
people  of  the  most  exalted  positions  to  be  admitted  as 
members  of  these  bodies,  and  who  were  accordingly  intro- 
duced into  the  mystic  rites  practised  in  the  lodges,  and 
designated  as  "  accepted  Masons."  The  earliest  use  of  these 
last  words  is  to  be  found  in  Ashmole's  Memoirs,  where  he 
states  that,  in  the  year  1682,  on  the  10th  of  March,  he 
dined  at  the  expense  of  the  new  " accepted  Mason."  This 
or  analogous  phraseology  had  already  begun  to  prevail  in 
a  different  form.  In  the  year  1670,  according  to  the  Har- 
leian  manuscript,1  the  words  "accepted  a  Freemason," 
were  used  to  distinguish  a  Mason  so  received  and  taken 
by  the  fraternity  without  professional  apprenticeship,  from 
one  who  was  initiated  because  of  his  vocation,  and  this 
signification  is  corroborated  by  Dr.  Plot.2 

A  rapid  change  in  the  character  of  Masonic  membership 
in  England  was  effected  during  the  seventeenth  century. 
Although  the  non-operative  Masons  who  were  initiated 
into  the  mysteries  of  the  order,  at  the  opening  of  this  cen- 
tury, no  doubt  constituted  a  greater  or  less  minority,  a 
decided  transformation  was  brought  about  in  the  class  of 
initiates  towards  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  and  the 
opening  of  the  eighteenth  century.  By  this  fundamental 
alteration  touching  essential  qualifications  for  membership 
without  reserve,  gentlemen,  the  learned  of  all  professions, 
and  noblemen,  began  to  unite  freely  with  the  Freemasons, 
who  had  gradually  ceased  to  exist  as  a  strictly  mechanical 
guild,  by  legal  interdiction,  in  the  year  1424.  During  the 
revolution  of  1688,  Freemasonry  had  a  precarious  exist- 
ence ;  so  much  so,  that  seven  lodges  alone  could  be  mustered 
on  the  rolls  in  London.3    Preston  alleges4  that  Sir  Christ o- 

1  No.  1942;  also  Hugh  an,  Old  Masonic  Charges,  p.  52,  et.  seq. 

2  Natural.  History  of  Staffordshire,  he.  cit. 

3  Preston,  Must,  of  Masonry,  p.  148 ;  Anderson,  Ancient  Constitutions,  p.  41. 
*  Rlustrations,  etc.,  p.  148. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  139 

pher  Wren  was  appointed  Grand  Master  of  Masons  in  the 
year  1685,  and  that  this  distinguished  architect,  during  the 
construction  of  St.  Paul's,  presided  over  St.  Paul's  Lodge 
of  Freemasons.  Halliwell,  in  his  Early  History  of  Free- 
masonry  in  England,  quoting  Aubrey,  Natural  History  of 
Wiltshire,  page  277,  says:  "  Memorandum. — This  May  the 
18th,  being  Monday,  1691,  after  Rogation  Sunday,  is  a 
great  convention  at  Saint  Paul's  church  of  the  fraternity 
of  the  adopted  Masons,  where  Sir  Christopher  "Wren  is  to 
be  adopted  a  brother,  and  Sir  Henry  Goodric  of  the  Tower, 
and  divers  others."  This  statement,  which  has  all  the 
appearance  of  being  authentic,  is  in  direct  antagonism  to 
Preston's  assertion,  and  is,  historically  considered,  entitled 
to  greater  weight.  The  date  assigned  in  the  foregoing 
quotation  is,  no  doubt,  accurate,  and  establishes  the  time 
when  this  illustrious  builder  was  initiated  into  the  myste- 
ries of  the  craft. 

Under  Queen  Anne,  Masonry  seems  to  have  been  in  a 
measure  devitalized  and  notoriously  languishing.  With 
the  exception  of  the  old  Saint  Paul  Lodge  and  a  few  others, 
the  Freemasons  in  London  do  not  appear  to  have  met  regu- 
larly for  work ; 1  and  to  such  extremes  was  the  fraternity 
reduced,  that  a  formal  proclamation  was  promulgated, 
announcing  that  henceforth  the  privileges  of  Freemasonry 
and  right  of  initiation  into  the  mysteries  of  the  order 
should  no  longer,  even  in  theory,  be  limited  to  architects 
or  operative  masons,  but  that  all  men,  of  whatsoever  pro- 
fession, after  having  been  regularly  approved  and  elected , 
should  be  entitled  to  the  degrees2  and  become  members  of 
the  order.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  predisposing 
cause  which  induced  this  new  regulation  to  be  thus  pub- 
lished, is  only  subject  of  conjecture.3    Although,  from  the 

1  Preston,  Illustrations  of  Masonry,  p.  148 ;  Anderson,  Ancient  Constitutions, 
p.  47. 

2  Preston,  Illustrations,  etc.,  p.  149. 

3  See  Findel,  Geschichte  der  Freimaurerei,  p.  145,  etc. 


140 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


date1  of  this  announcement,  Freemasonry  was  publicly 
recognized  as  resting  from  its. operative  labors,  in  order 
more  generally  to  cultivate  the  social  and  speculative, 
however  such  result  had  been  practically  attained  long 
prior  to  this  edict  It  is  said2  that  in  the  year  1695,  King 
William  was  privately  initiated  into  a  lodge  at  Hampton 
Court,  which  ever  afterwards  was  the  special  object  of  his 
fraternal  attentions,  and  in  1697,  a  General  Assembly  of 
Masons  was  convened  to  elect  Charles,  Duke  of  Richmond 
and  Lenox,  as  Grand  Master.  On  the  24th  day  of  June, 
1717,  a  Grand  Lodge  of  Freemasons  was  formed  on  the 
express  basis  that  old  and  immemorial  usages  and  land- 
marks should  be  sacredly  perpetuated.3  And  thus  Free- 
masonry, after  the  gradual  extinction  of  its  operative 
features,  consummated  the  speculative  details  by  rigidly 
clinging  to  past  traditions ;  and  by  the  continuation  of 
venerable  symbols,  rites,  and  ceremonies  which,  with  slight 
modifications,  still  exist. 

1  Sometime  after  1702,  and  evidently  before  1717.    Preston,  ut  supra. 

2  Preston,  Ibid.,  p.  148 ;  Anderson,  Ancient  Constitutions,  p.  43. 

3  At  the  time  referred  to,  it  was  enacted  by  the  Grand  Lodge:  " That  every 
privilege  which  the  lodges  enjoyed  by  virtue  of  their  immemorial  rights,'  they 
should  still  continue  to  enjoy,  and  that  no  law,  rule,  or  regulation,  to  be  there- 
after made  or  passed  by  the  Grand  Lodge,  should  ever  deprive  them  of  such 
privilege,  or  encroach  on  any  landmark  which  was  at  that  time  established  as 
the  standard  of  Masonic  government."   Preston,  Illustrations  of  Masonry,  p.  151. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


Freemasonry  in  Germany  —  Cathedrals  of  Ulm  and  Nuremburg 
and  their  master  builders  —  german  grand  lodge  of  masons 
and  Erwin  Von  Steinbach  —  Papal  Confirmation  —  Jurisdiction 
of  the  several  Grand  Bodies  —  Convention  of  Torgau— An- 
cient Stonecutters'  Law  —  Old  Landmarks  Reaffirmed  at 
Torgau —  The  Craft  Continue  as  an  Operative  Society  until  the 
Eighteenth  Century  —  Edict  of  1731  —  Grand  Lodge  of  Strass- 
burg  Destroyed  by  the  French  Revolution  —  Lodges  on  the 
Continent  Opened  under  English  Charters  —  Causes  Contribu- 
ting to  the  Overthrow  of  the  Freemasons  as  a  Body  of  Trades- 
men. 

OWARDS  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
many  new  and  splendid  works  of  art  were  exe- 
cuted in  Germany.  The  foundation  walls  of  the 
Ulm  cathedral  were  laid  in  the  year  1377,  and 
the  edifice  itself  was  completed  in  1494,  by  Ulrich  of  Em- 
singen,  who  is  said  to  have  been  the  master  architect  and 
superintendent  of  the  work.  The  choir  slabs,  wrought  by 
the  hands  of  Jorg  Sirlen,  a  distinguished  Master  Mason  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  are  especially  noteworthy  on  account 
of  a  half  life-sized  figure  which  that  artist  has  carved  upon 
them.  Over  the  upper  entrance  on  the  south  side  of  this 
edifice,  a  sketch  of  the  minster,  hewn  in  stone,  is  still 
visible.1  During  the  latter  portion  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, Charles  IY.  caused  the  church  of  St.  Stephen,  at 
Tangernmnde,  to  be  constructed,  of  which  Heinrich  Bruns- 

1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  584. 

141 


142 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


berg  was  master  builder.  The  Laidies'  Chapel,  at  Nurem- 
burg,  built  during  the  reign  of  the  above  monarch,  between 
the  years  1361  and  1365,  was  erected  by  the  joint  labor  of 
George  and  Fritz  Ruprecht,  Master  Masons,  assisted  by 
one  Selbald  Schonhofer,  noted  as  a  skilled  stonecutter. 
To  this  church  an  addition  was  made  in  the  year  1462, 
under  the  direction  of  Adam  Kraft,  superintending  Master 
Mason.  The  elegant  baptisteries  in  the  interior  of  the 
chapel,  may  be  mentioned  as  the  undoubted  handicraft  of 
the  artisans  who  labored  in  the  stonecutters'  lodge  near 
this  building.  During  the  period  extending  from  1361  to 
1377,  a  new  choir  was  added  to  the  church  of  St.  Sebald, 
whose  principal  attraction  consists  of  the  chaste  and  elabo- 
rate pilasters  in  the  edifice,  hewn  by  the  skilful  hands  of 
ancient  masters.  Among  the  more  notable  objects  pos- 
sessed by  this  church,  are  some  pieces  of  statuary  by  Adam 
Kraft,  to  whom  reference  has  been  made,  who  seems  to 
have  received  material  assistance  from  Master  Peter 
Vischer,  whose  celebrated  work,  Sebald's  grave,1  is  a 
permanent  attraction  to  all  lovers  of  the  fine  arts.  Saint 
Mary's  chapel,  at  Wiirzberg,  commenced  about  the  year 
1377  and  completed  in  1414,  and  the  work  of  the  mediaeval 
Masonic  fraternity,  merits  especial  attention  for  its  curious 
carved  statuesque  imagery  above  the  main  entrance.  The 
relief  figures  seem  to  have  been  placed  there  with  direct 
and  significant  allusions  to  the  corrupt  condition  of  the 
Romish  church. 

At  what  period  the  Freemasons  of  Germany  first  insti- 
tuted a  Grand  Lodge,  or  acknowledged  the  authority  of  a 
Grand  Master,  is  uncertain.  Stieglitz2  says  the  building 
corporations  in  different  parts  of  the  empire  stood  in  close 

1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  587. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  610-611.  Die  Bauvereine  der  verschiedenen  Reiche  in  Deutsch- 
land  standen  mit  einander  in  genauer  Verbindung,  und  sie  erheilten,  un- 
terstutzt  von  Konigen  und  Papsten  immer  mehr  Festigkeit  und  groszeres 
Ansehen. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


143 


connection  with  each  other,  and  that  they  had,  at  an  early 
date,  received  from  various  emperors  and  petty  powers 
many  substantial  tokens  of  their  approval  and  favor.  The 
lodge  of  Strassburg,  at  its  institution  under  Erwin  of 
Steinbach,  obtained  from  Rudolph  I.1  of  Habsburg,  espe- 
cial privileges,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  procuration  of 
skilled  stonecutters.2  In  addition  to  these  concessions,  it 
also  acquired  independent  jurisdiction,  in  accordance,  per- 
haps, with  usages  and  practices  which  had  existed  forages, 
for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  uninterrupted  progress 
of  labor  on  the  cathedral,  and  in  order  that  strict  order 
might  be  preserved.3  In  the  year  1278,  Pope  Nicholas  III. 
issued  to  this  lodge  a  letter  of  indulgence,  which  was  occa- 
sionally renewed  by  his  successors,  and  ultimately  con- 
firmed by  Benedict  XII.4  Evidently,  therefore,  at  that 
time  this  fraternity  of  builders  was  established  on  a  solid 
foundation.  Whether  the  regulations  of  the  society,  in 
earlier  ages,  were  preserved  in  a  written  form,  cannot  be 
ascertained  with  certainty  ;  it  is  probable  that  they  were 
propagated  by  oral  proclamation.  We  know,  however,  that 
thirteen  years  after  the  completion  of  the  Strassburg 
minster  turret,  Jacob  Dotzinger,  as  master  of  masons 
employed  on  the  cathedral,  in  the  year  1452,  succeeded  in 
uniting  the  existing  lodges  of  Germany  in  a  general  or 
grand  body,  and  in  the  year  1459,  at  Regensburg,  the 
statutes  and  general  regulations  of  the  stonecutters  or 

1  Die  Strassburger  Haupthiitte,  welche,  bei  ihrem  Entstehen  unter  dem 
groszen  Baumeister  Erwin  von  Steinbach,  von  Kaiser  .Rudolf  von  Habsburg 
rait  bedentenden  Privilegien  bedacht  worden.  Scherr,  Deutsche  Cultur,  p. 
162. 

'l  Um  die  Zuziehung  geschichter  Steinmetzen  zu  erleichteren.  Stieglitz, 
Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  611. 

3  Delinquent  Masons  were  rigidly  punished  by  a  regularly  constituted  court 
of  the  fraternity,  which  in  1275  was  held  in  the  open  air  at  Strassburg.  Bren- 
tano,  Hist,  of  Orig.  and  Develop,  of  Guilds,  p.  cxxvi. 

*  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  611 ;  Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer 
wahren  Bedeutung,  p.  9. 


144 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AXD 


masons  were  reduced  to  writing.1  In  this  constitution 
the  authority  of  four  Grand  Lodges  is  recognized,  viz. : 
Strassburg,  Cologne,  Vienna,  and  Zurich,  under  whose 
several  jurisdictions  various  subordinate  lodges  were  re- 
organized. Twenty-two  lodges2  were  dependent  on  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Strassburg,  and  were  dispersed  throughout 
Swabia,  Hesse,  Bavaria,  Franconia,  Westphalia,  Thuringia, 
the  provincial  territories  bordering  upon  the  Moselle,  and 
as  far  as  Italy.  The  Grand  Lodge  of  Cologne  exercised 
jurisdiction  over  cities  along  the  Rhine.  The  territory 
of  the  Vienna  grand  body  extended  throughout  Austria, 
Hungary,  Steyermark,  and  the  country  on  the  confines  of 
the  Donau.  Switzerland,  and  the  lodges  at  Berne,  Luzern, 
Scafhausen,  St.  Gale,  and  other  cantons,  were  subject  to  the 
authority  of  the  Zurich  Grand  Lodge.  Among  all  the 
Grand  Lodges  of  this  age,  that  of  Strassburg  was  pre- 
eminent, and  was  recognized  as  having  supreme  authority, 
and  taking  precedence  over  all  Masonic  bodies  in  the  em- 
pire. Moreover,  the  master  builder  then  at  work  on  the 
minster  at  Strassburg  was  declared  the  Grand  Master  of  the 
fraternity  in  Grermany.3  Several  subsequent  convocations, 
held  at  Speyer  in  the  years  1464  and  1469,  maintained  the 
integrity  of  this  compact.4  During  a  period  of  thirty -four 
years,  the  fraternity  of  Freemasons  preserved  a  languid 
existence,  until  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  in  the  year  1498, 
while  at  Strassburg,  vitalized  the  society  by  granting  to 
the  several  regulations  his  imperial  sanction  and  recogni- 
tion.5 


1  Stieglitz,  Ibid.,  loc.  cit. ;  Keller,  Kurzgefasste  Geschichte  der  Freimaurerei,  p. 
8 ;  also  Brentano,  ubi  supra,  p.  cxxxiv. 

2  Krause,  Die  Drei  celtesten  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  II.,  Abt.  1,  p.  286. 

3  "Der  werkmeister  Jost  Dotzinger  oberster  Kichter  sin  sol,  etc.,"  from  the 
text,  published  by  Krause,  ubi  supra ;  also  Brentano,  Hist,  and  Dev&l.  of  Guilds, 
p.  cxxxiv. 

4  I  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  to  the  ordinance  of  1462  hereafter. 

5  Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in  Hirer  wahren  Bedeutung,  p.  250. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


145 


A  general  assembly  of  the  Masons,  at  Basel  and  Strass- 
burg,1  in  the  year  1563,  reduced  the  preceding  ordinances, 
which  had  gradually  increased,  in  volume  and  number, 
into  convenient  form  by  compilation,  which  received  the 
name  of  "  Steinmetz  Recht," — stonecutters'  law, —  other- 
wise known  as  Brothers'  Book.2  The  constitutions  of 
1563  were  subsequently  printed,  and  copies  of  the  same 
distributed  among  the  several  Masonic  lodges.3  In  this 
manner  there  exist  two  separate  and  distinct  general 
regulations  —  the  older  of  1459,  and  the  later  of  1563, 
confirmatory  of  the  first.  There  is  another  Masonic  or 
stonecutters'  ordinance,  drawn  up  in  the  year  1462,  which 
is  of  the  highest  importance.  It  far  transcends  in  value 
all  other  German  constitutions  extant  of  that  remote 
period,  either  in  print  or  manuscript.  Although  these 
regulations  never  received  that  imperial  sanction  which 
made  those  of  1459  and  1563  of  binding  force  upon  the 
fraternity  throughout  Germany,  yet,  by  solemn  compact 
between  the  master  builders  of  Magdeburg,  Halberstadt, 
Hildesheim,  Mullburg,  Merseburg,  Meissen,  Voightland, 
and  by  the  Masons  of  Thuringia  and  Hartzland,  these 
statutes  were  enacted  at  Torgau  during  the  days  of  Saint 
Bartholemew  and  Michelmas,4  and  deliberately  agreed  to 
as  the  law  which  should,  in  future,  regulate  and  determine 
all  matters  pertaining  to  the  craft  residing  upon  the  terri- 
tory mentioned.5    The  introductory  clause 6  of  this  valua- 

1  See  prefatory  clause  of  this  ordinance  in  Krause,  ut  supra,  p.  294. 

2  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  pp.  610-612  ;  Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in 
ihrer  wahren  Bedeutung,  p.  251,  etc. 

3  Scherr,  Deutsche  Caltur,  p.  163. 

4  Proem,  of  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  vom  Yahre  1462,  and  Stieglitz,  supra, 
p.  613. 

5  Ordnung,  etc.  For  convenience  I  have  used  the  edition  of  Stieglitz,  pub- 
lished in  his  Ueber  die  Kirche  der  heiligen  Kunigunde,  p.  59,  et  seq. 

6  "  Auf  die  Jieilige  eide,  die  wir  Steinwerck  gethan  haben,  soliche  ordnunge 
auffzunemen  und  zu  bestettigen  Inn  diesem  Lande  nach  gewonheit.  Grossen 
Schaden  und  Unordnunge  der  werke,  u.  s.  w."    Ordnung  1462,  p.  59. 

13  K 


146 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


ble  constitution  asserts  that  important  changes 1  had  crept 
into  the  Masonic  organization,  and  abuses,  unchecked, 
had  begun  to  prevail  in  the  lodges  where  the  fraternity 
assembled.  The  professed  object  of  the  convocation  at 
Torgau,  in  1462,  was  to  remedy  the  defects  asserted  to 
have  obtained  with  the  ordinances  of  Regensburg  and 
Strassburg  in  1459,  and  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  the 
internal  organization  of  Freemasonry  back  to  its  original 
consistency.2  From  this  it  will  readily  appear  what  ines- 
timable assistance  this  regulation  offers  for  investigating 
the  landmarks  of  Masonry  as  they  existed  among  the 
mediaeval  stonecutters  in  their  ancient  purity.  The  view 
afforded  of  the  internal  mechanism  of  lodge  work  and 
strange  customs  of  that  and  preceding  ages,  can  alone  be 
found  in  this  document,  so  solemnly  and  diligently  pre- 
pared by  the  dissenting  brethren  of  Torgau,  who,  as  a 
society  of  conservators,  sternly  discarding  all  innovations,3 
tolerated  no  infringements  upon  established  usages,  but 
adhered  rigidly  to  immemorial  customs,  such  as  their 
predecessors  had  practised  from  a  remote  period.  In  fact, 
the  full  details  which  are  presented  to  us  in  this  constitu- 
tion, add  many  links  to  the  subtle  chain  which  carries 
Masonic  symbolism  far  back  to  the  opening  dawn  of 
Germanic  civilization,  long  anterior  to  the  introduction 
of  Judaic  or  adventitious  ritualism  — back  to  a  time  when 
the  refining  influences  of  the  Christian  religion  were 
unknown,  when  the  Scandinavian  warrior  still  appealed 
to  his  God  of  Battles,  and  the  Norse  priest  celebrated  the 

1  It  is  a  singular  coincidence  that  the  Grand  Orient  of  France,  in  1801,  ordered 
the  publication  of  a  standard  ritual  work  in  order  to  correct  such  infringe- 
ments, and  is  styled  Regulateur  du  Ma$on.  A  copy  of  this  book  is  in  my 
possession. 

2  "  Inn  diesem  Lande  nach  gewonheit,  als  disz  Buch  Clerlich  auszweist  das 
haben  wir,  etc."    Ordnung  vom  Yahre  1462,  p.  59. 

3  Ein  solches  zu  Kegiren  und  zu  halden  Inwirden  nach  der  lande  gewonheit 
und  noth.  Darnrnb  haben  wir  etzliche  aufl'  das  Beste  ausgezogen  aus  dem 
Buche,  etc.  Ibid. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


147 


dread  ceremonies  of  a  mystic  faith,  amidst  the  revolting 
cruelties  of  human  sacrifice. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  framers  of  these  regulations 
drew  largely  from  older  and  authentic  ordinances  of  the 
craft  —  older  even  than  those  which  were  used  in  the 
preparation  of  the  constitutions1  of  1459  at  Regensburg 
and  Strassburg.  As  a  satisfactory  attestation  of  this 
assumption,  it  will  suffice  to  refer  to  the  indignant  pro- 
test of  the  Torgau  dissenters  against  the  changes  which 
were  made  in  the  work,  implying  a  grave  variation  from 
established  usages,  in  order  to  harmonize  with  the  newer 
phases  of  society.2  Notwithstanding  this  later  ordinance, 
the  earlier  one  of  1459,  and  that  of  the  year  1563,  continued 
to  exist  as  binding  upon  the  Masons  residing  under  the 
several  jurisdictions  as  previously  designated,  and  were 
regarded  as  the  law  for  the  lodges  within  their  territorial 
limits.  The  constitution  thus  passed  upon  in  1462  was 
publicly  read  at  each  annual  communication  of  masters 
and  the  brethren,  and  a  strict  conformity  to  it  enjoined.3 
Many  points  of  absorbing  interest  appear  in  these  regula- 


1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst.  p.  613.  The  following  is  the  phrase- 
ology:  "  Anch  alle  diese  artigkel  sindt  gemacht  worden  ausz  dem  Texte  des 
alden  Haubtenrechtes."  Ordnuny,  Proem,  p.  60.  The  holy  martyrs,  there 
denominated  as  Christorius,  Singnificamus,  and  Claudius,  are  asserted  to  be 
the  original  compilers  of  the  stonemasons'  law. 

2  "  Und  sie  haben  angesehen  solichenn  Schaden  und  Unordnunge  der  werke 
und  Verseumnisse,  ist  geschehen  en  alien  landen  von  den  werkmeistern,  pal- 
lirer  und  gesellen."    Ordnuny  1462,  Proem,  p.  59. 

3  Etzliehe  Stiicke,  die  da  not  sein  alien  obern  werkmeistern  und  gesellen 
auf  das  Kiirtzte  das  das  rechte  Buch  sol  In  ein  bleyben  und  nicht  geleseiv 
werden  den  dess  Yars,  etc."  Ibid.,  p.  60.  Perhaps  the  real  design  in  their 
bringing  these  parts  of  the  ordinance  before  the  general  or  grand  body  was  to 
give  the  Fellow  craftsmen,  who  were  there  made  Masters,  an  impressive  oppor- 
tunity to  know  the  regulations.  These  general  chapters,  held  each  year,  con- 
ferred the  degree  of  Master  on  the  Fellows.  Vide  Krause,  Die  Drei  wllesten 
Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  II.,  Ab.  1,  p.  314,  and  names  given  of  such  as  had  been 
thus  made,  in  the  year  1563,  and  appended  to  this  charter.  Also,  Kloss,  Die 
Frcimaurerei,  etc.,  pp.  210-14. 


148 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


tions  which  the  former  do  not  possess.  It  affords  the 
means  by  which  the  history  of  lodge  life  can  be  traced 
with  sufficient  accuracy,  and  furnishes  us  an  outline  of 
such  symbolic  references  as  had  continued  uninterrupt- 
edly from  times  of  the  remotest  antiquity  down  to  the 
date  of  this  curious  document.  It  also  teaches  us  the 
relative  and  reciprocal  conduct  of  master  and  wardens 
towards  the  craft,  and  to  each  other.  As  a  mere  contri- 
bution to  the  history  of  morals  of  that  age,  the  ordinance 
of  1462  is  of  the  highest  value  ;l  but  when  the  detached 
parcels  of  the  same,  disjointed  though  they  be,  are  viewed 
with  a  critical  eye,  and  examined  from  an  archaeological 
stand-point,  the  several  details  are  of  the  most  inestimable 
aid  in  establishing  beyond  controversy  the  absolute  existence 
of  the  Gothic  or  Teutonic  derivation  of  many  mediaeval 
Masonic  symbols,  which  have  been  perpetuated  to  our  day. 
Numerous  facts  are  here  brought  to  light,  touching  the 
internal  government  and  the  general  regulations,  which 
prevailed  within  the  closed  recesses  of  the  lodge  —  facts 
which  the  constitutions  of  1459  and  1563  utterly  ignore, 
and  exist  alone  in  this  invaluable  Torgau  ordinance  of 
1462.2 

For  a  long  time,  the  building  corporations  continued  in 
active  vitality  in  Germany,  and  with  great  benefit  to 
architectural  art.3    Sufficiently  fortunate  in  evading  the 


1  Stieglitz,  Ueber  die  Kirche  der  heiligen  Kunigunde,  p.  34. 

2  A  document  alleged  to  have  been  written  in  the  year  1535,  at  Cologne, 
has  recently  attracted  an  undeserved  attention  from  the  German  Masons. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  so-called  Cologne  manuscript  was  prepared  between 
the  years  1778  and  1786,  for  the  especial  object  of  directing  the  fraternity  in 
strong  antagonism  against  the  Romish  church.  Keller,  Kurzgefasste  Geschichte 
der  Freimaurerei,  p.  100,  very  justly  observes,  "  to  accept  the  genuineness  of  this 
Cologne  document,  would  totally  change  the  entire  front  of  Freemasonry." 
It  was  evidently  drawn  up  by  strong  partisan  Masons,  about  the  time  men- 
tioned, to  counteract  the*  edict  of  Clement  XII.,  in  1738,  against  the  Free- 
masons. 

3  Stieglitz,  Baukunst,  p.  625. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


149 


fate  to  which  the  English  fraternity  had  succumbed  early 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  German  Freemasonry  still  existed 
as  an  operative  science.  It  cooperated  with  princes  and 
ecclesiastics  to  construct  churches  and  many  other  impor- 
tant buildings  of  public  worth.  It  also  assisted  in  the 
moralistic  education1  of  its  members  with  equal  success. 
Notwithstanding  that,  during  the  closing  years  of  the 
mediaeval  era,  fine  arts  had  in  a  measure  degenerated, 
and  that  the  artistic,  delicately-wrought  workmanship  no 
longer  appears,  yet,  withal,  a  fair  knowledge  of  the  prac- 
tical details,  especially  in  the  constructive  principles  of 
the  arch,  was  as  yet  retained.2  And  although  the  frater- 
nities of  stonecutters  had  descended  from  the  high  and 
noble  ideality  of  more  ancient  times,  and  gradually  assimi- 
lated to  a  mere  craft  guild  or  union  —  and  for  this  conjec- 
ture the  Constitution  of  1563  affords  a  reasonable  ground  ; 
and  although  the  artist  no  longer  strove  to  imbue  him- 
self with  the  wonderful  properties  of  abstruse  and  abstract 
geometry,  but,  with  apparent  indifference,  hesitated  upon 
the  threshold  of  a  higher  and  nobler  science,  practising 
his  profession  simply  by  gauge  admeasurement ;  notwith- 
standing these  flagrant  departures  from  old  and  established 
methods,  there  still  permeated  the  fraternity  that  activity 
and  life  which  a  struggle  for  the  good  and  perfect  engen- 
dered.3 

Political  dissensions  and  troubles  —  which  have  ever 
been  the  enemies  of  art  —  contributed  materially  to  ac- 
celerate the  destruction  of  German  Freemasonry  as  an 
operative  body.  The  capture  of  Strassburg,  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  by  the  French,  remorselessly  removed  the 
keystone  from  the  arch  of  Masonry  in  the  German  em- 

1  Numerous  proofs  of  this  attempt  clearly  appear  in  nearly  all  the  German 
ordinances,  particularly  in  that  of  1462. 

2  Stieglitz,  ut  supra,  p.  626. 

3  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture,  p.  118,  pays  the  Middle- Age  Freemasons 
a  flattering  compliment  at  the  expense  of  modern  Masonry. 

13* 


150 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


pire.1  In  the  year  1707,2  an  imperial  Diet  promulgated  a 
decree  interdicting  the  lodges  of  the  empire  from  a  fur- 
ther recognition  of  the  authority,  hitherto  acknowledged, 
due  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Strassburg.  This  statute  was  a 
severe  blow  to  the  unity  of  the  German  Freemasons,  and 
from  this  time  the  fraternity,  as  a  body  of  operatives, 
rapidly  advanced  to  a  dissolution.3  However,  to  effect  a 
total  and  complete  extinction  of  closely-organized  asso- 
ciations of  the  stonecutters  or  Freemasons,  an  additional 
imperial  decree  was  published  in  the  year  1731,  which, 
under  severe  penalties,  forbid  all  lodges  in  Germany  from 
obligating  any  initiate  to  silence  touching  the  craft  secrets 
imparted  him.4  By  the  crushing  weight  of  this  edict, 
Freemasonry,  in  the  year  1731,  ceased  to  exist  in  the 
empire  as  an  operative  body.5  In  many  localities,  it 
was  divided  into  different  branches  of  mechanical  trades. 
The  masons  and  carpenters  usually  fraternized  in  the  same 
guild.6  The  preparation  of  finer  ornamentation  for  edifices 
was  abandoned  to  sculptors,  and  everywhere  corporations 
of  these  artificers  sprung  into  existence,  who  wrought  out 

1  Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in  ihr.  w.  Bedeutung,  p.  255. 

2  Steiglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  626. 

8  In  order  to  give  greater  effectiveness  to  his  reasoning  touching  the  claims 
of  Germany  to  the  pointed  arch,  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  526, 
asserts  that  the  Freemasons  preserved  their  footing  and  credit  longest  in  that 
country. 

*  "  Ein  anderer  Reichstagschluss,  vom  Yahre  1731,  alien  damals  in  Deutsch- 
land  betstehenden  Hutten  verbot,  die  aufzunehmenden  Mitglieder  zum  Ver- 
schweigen  der  Kunstheimlichkeiten  zu  vereiden."  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der 
Baukunst,  p.  626. 

6  Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer  ivahren  Bedeutung,  p.  256.  This  imperial 
interdiction  not  only  extended  to  forbid  such  secret  communication  to  newly- 
initiated  members,  but  solemnly  declared  such  as  had  been  thus  obligated 
freed  and  relieved  from  their  oaths :  "  so  seynd  sie  von  solchem  eid  hiermit 
vollig  losgesprochen."    Ibid.,  p.  269. 

6  As  previously  noted,  the  mediaeval  carpenters  were  affiliated  with  the 
bodies  of  architects,  according  to  Marchese,  Vie  dei  Architette,  etc.,  Tomo  I.,  p. 
143.  Carpentarius,  usata  sempre  dal  necrologio  a  significazione  di  architetto. 
Ibid.,  p.  144. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


151 


the  same  character  of  handiwork  as  the  stonecutters ; 
while  the  latter,  from  the  abrupt  dissolution  of  their  fra- 
ternal privileges,  merely  pursued  the  humbler  avocation 
of  chiselling  piece-work,  and  the  master  builders  labored 
in  future  for  their  individual  gain,  without  social  relations 
with  each  other  or  with  the  guilds.  Stonecutters'  corpo- 
rations, scattered  and  remote  from  one  another,  main- 
tained a  shadowy  resemblance  of  former  Masonic  associa- 
tions, upon  the  groundwork  of  the  statute  of  1563 — as, 
for  example,  the  several  lodges  of  Basel,  Zurich,  Ham- 
burg, and  Dantzig1;  but  the  vital  spirit  which  had  ani-  / 
mated  architectural  art  was  gone,  and  the  living  principle 
which,  in  earlier  and  more  favorable  times,  had  quickened 
and  unified  distant  and  widespread  fraternities,  barely 
survived,  while  the  mere  shell,  shrivelled  into  a  caricature 
of  healthy  growth,  alone  remained. 

At  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  conquest 
of  Strassburg  and  Alsace,  by  the  French,  changed  the  in- 
timate relations  of  the  remaining  lodges  of  Germany.2 
Upon  the  incorporation  of  Alsace  with  France,  the  Im- 
perial Diet,  held  in  Germany,  in  1707,  as  alluded  to, 
enacted  the  decree  interdicting  further  obedience  by  sub- 
ordinate lodges  to  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Strassburg,  by 
reason  of  that  city  having  become  an  integral  portion  of  a 
foreign  empire.  This  ordinance,  however,  was  not  vigor- 
ously enforced,  because,  so  late  as  the  year  1725,  a  lodge 
of  stonecutters  at  Rochlitz  still  maintained  fraternal 
intercourse  with  the  original  grand  body  in  the  above- 
named  city,  and  recognized  it  as  absolutely  essential  to 
procure  the  sanction  of  the  Strassburg  Grand  Lodge,  in 
order  to  render  authoritative  the  regulations  which  Fer- 
dinand II.  had  confirmed.3    It  is,  at  all  events,  fairly  pre- 

1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  627. 

2  Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer  wahren  Bedeutung,  p.  255.  Both  the 
authors  cited  have  drawn  their  material  apparently  from  the  Theatmm  Euro- 
pceum,  Tome  XVIII.,  p.  45. 

3  Stieglitz,  Ueber  die  Kirche  der  hciligen  Kunigunde  zu  Rochlitz,  p.  23. 


152 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


sumable,  that  the  Dresden  lodges  acknowledged  a  depen- 
dence on  this  body,  otherwise  it  cannot  be  inferred  that 
the  Rochlitz  Masons  could  have  sustained  such  subjective 
relations  with  a  foreign  jurisdiction.  And  in  order  that 
this  principle  of  traditional,  or,  rather,  immemorial, 
obedience  might  be  perpetuated,  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
Strassburg  yielded  to  the  demands  of  the  lodge  at  Roch- 
litz, upon  conditions  which  would,  for  all  time,  render 
requisite  the  recognition  of  this  grand  jurisdiction  as  the 
highest  tribunal  of  justice  for  Masons,  and  also  to  remain 
true  and  faithful  to  their  allegiance.  It  was  furthermore 
stipulated,  as  a  symbol  of  obedience,  that  each  year  a 
Bohemian  groschen  should  be  tendered.1 

That  the  stonecutters'  lodge  at  Rochlitz  remained  in 
strict  union  with  the  Masonic  filiations  of  Strassburg, 
admits  of  no  doubt.  As  late  as  the  sixth  decade2  of  the 
last  century,  that  grand  body  communicated  officially  with 
the  Rochlitz  lodge,  reminding  the  members  of  the  annual 
tribute  of  groschen.  The  letters  adverting  to  this  service 
are  still  preserved  in  the  archives  of  this  last-mentioned 
fraternity.3  These  admonitions,  moreover,  attest  the 
melancholy  fact  that  the  fraternal  bonds  which  had  ex- 
isted for  successive  ages  between  these  bodies  of  Masons 
were  gradually  loosening,  and,  to  all  appearances,  had 
nearly  ceased  to  manifest  themselves  by  a  reciprocal  regard. 
When  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Strassburg  was  totally  extin- 
guished, through  the  agencies  provoked  by  the  French 
revolution,  the  last  ties  of  jurisdiction,  which  had  been 
maintained  uninterruptedly  through  five  centuries,  were 
relentlessly  severed.4  It  is,  therefore,  manifest  that  Free- 
masonry in  the  German  empire,  at  so  late  a  period  at  least 

1  Stieglitz,  Geschichie  der  Baukuvst,  p.  627  ;  Ibid.,  Ueber  die  Kirche  der  heil- 
igen  Kunigunde  zu  Rochlitz,  p.  24. 

2  Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer  wahren  Bedeutung,  p.  257. 

3  Stieglitz,  Ueber  die  Kirche  der  heiligen  Kunigunde,  p.  24. 
*  Stieglitz,  Baukunst,  p.  628. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


153 


as  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  retained  much  of 
an  operative  character.1  In  the  year  1823,  the  Masonic 
lod°;e  at  Rochlitz  obtained  from  the  Saxon  o-overnment  a 
new  class  of  regulations,  which,  according  to  Stieglitz,2 
had  but  little  in  common  with  the  old  rules,  and,  with  the 
single  exception  of  the  duration  of  apprenticeship,  which 
was  reenacted,  preserved  nothing  of  their  mediaeval  char- 
acteristics. At  all  events,  it  is  worthy  of  note,  that  al- 
though the  final  and  absolute  cessation  of  operative  ma- 
sonry has  hitherto  been  assigned  to  the  year  1717  in 
England,  and  in  Germany  to  the  period  of  the  capture  of 
Strassburg,  yet  there  are  unmistakable  indications  that 
English  Freemasonry  had,  early  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
assumed  a  speculative  type,  while  in  the  German  empire, 
the  original  operative  nature  of  the  ancient  building  cor- 
porations was  certainly  continued  to  the  termination 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  with  a  strong  probability 
of  having  perpetuated  itself  distinctly  to  the  present 
century.  Dr.  Scherr3  has  justly  remarked  that  the  shat- 
tered fragments  of  English  Middle- Age  Freemasonry  fur- 
nished largely  the  material  for  the  speculative  or  modern 
society  of  Masons,  and  that  it  was  upon  the  basis  of  ancient 
religious  and  social  ideas,  as  embodied  in  these  fraternities, 
that  the  present  organization  has  been  propagated.  Free- 
masonry, therefore,  in  its  new  attire,  rapidly  extended  to 
the  Continent,  and  especially  in  France  and  Germany, 
where  numerous  lodges  were  opened.4    It  can  scarcely  be 

1  See  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  526. 

2  Stieglitz,  Ibid.,  p.  628. 

3  Deutsche  Cultur,  p.  163.  "In  England  wurde  namlich  im  Yalir  1717  auf 
Grund  der  religiosen  und  sozialen  Idee  der  Mittelaterichen  Bauhutte  die 
Genossenschaft  der  Freimaurer  gegrundet,  welche  sich  rasch  auch  auf  dem 
Continent  verbreitete  und  namentlich  in  Frankreich  und  Deutschland  zahl- 
reiche  Hutten  eroffnete." 

*  Findel,  Geschichle  der  Freimaurerei,  pp.  274,  282.  I  take  pleasure  in  recom- 
mending this  work  to  all  who  desire  an  accurate  history  of  Freemasonry  in 
its  modern  extension. 


I 


154  THE  EA  RLY  HIS  TORY  A  KD 


presumed  that  the  ritual  work  thus  introduced  into  Ger- 
many was  accepted  without  modification,  or  that  many 
symbolic  appliances,  preserving  a  vigorous  vitality  in 
the  Masonic  craft  guilds,  were  not  merged  into,  and  made 
an  integral  portion  of,  the  forms  and  initiatory  ceremo- 
nies.1 

In  its  early  history,  Freemasonry  everywhere  applied 
the  unlimited  resources  of  architectural  skill  to  develop- 
ing divine  ideas  through  symbolized  stone.  Operative 
Masonry  erected  to  God  the  grandest  temples  of  earth, 
and  filled  them  with  aspiring  pilasters  and  mystic  arches. 
Freemasonry  worked  out  in  granite  blocks  the  thoughts 
and  aspirations  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Popular  imagination 
found  its  correct  exponent,  and  religion  conveyed  its  most 
impressive  lessons  of  faith  and  submission,  in  these  works 
of  art.  No  other  means  could  so  accurately  evoke  that 
Christian  emotional  element  underlying  the  rude  and 
rugged  character  of  social  life  at  this  period.  The  single 
object  which  presented  itself  to  the  Masonic  architect  was 
to  find  suitable  expression  for  the  heart-yearnings  and  moral 
aspirations  of  the  people.  This  purpose  was  pursued  with 
a  persistent  zeal,2  which  resulted  in  art  productions  of  won- 
drous beauty  and  uniformity.  So  long  as  architecture  real- 
ized the  anticipations  of  the  Middle  Ages  ;  so  long,  as  Free- 
masonry, through  the  erection  of  superb  edifices,  furnished 
an  adequate  outlet  for  national  ideas,  just  that  long  Ma- 
sonry continued  to  create  exquisite  temples  of  worship, 
and  preserved  a  vigorous  existence  as  an  operative  science. 
When,  however,  popular  thought  found  expression  by 

1  Perhaps/  in  various  localities,  the  emblematic  uses  of  numerous  things 
connected  with  operative  Masonry  may  have  suggested  their  incorporation 
with  the  English  symbols;  at  all  events,  there  are  ritualistic  or  symbolic  dif- 
ferences existing  between  the  German  work  as  now  practised  and  that  trans- 
mitted through  the  older  English  craftsmen. 

2  Luebke,  Geschichte  der  Plastik,  p.  442. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


155 


means  of  printing-presses,  church  architecture  began  im- 
mediately to  retrograde,  and,  with  it,  operative  Masonry 
rapidly  declined.1 

A  remarkable  fact  connected  with  mediaeval  architecture 
is  its  invariably  progressive  character;  but  what  is  even 
more  striking,  has  been  alluded  to  previously — the  unceas- 
ing and  unchanging  uniformity  of  Gothic  architectural  art 
which  prevailed  throughout  Europe.2  During  the  Middle 
Ages,  when  Freemasonry  was  a  craft  in  the  hands  of  a 
corporate  ecclesiastical  fraternity,  the  members  were  bound 
down  to  certain  rules,  and  yet  possessed  unlimited  license  in 
carrying  those  rules  into  effect.  For  instance,  precisely  in 
the  same  way  as  if  the  alphabet  of  a  language  were  given 
to  any  one,  and  he  were  allowed  to  form  whatever  combi- 
nation of  which  the  letters  were  susceptible,  but  not  to 
introduce  new  forms  and  symbols.3  The  great  glory  of  the 
Gothic  or  Teutonic  style4  is  its  perfect  unity,  combined 
with  almost  infinite  variety.  In  order  to  preserve  that 
striking  similitude  existing  between  the  productions  of 
operative  Masonry,  constructed  at  remote  distances  from 
each  other,  constant  communication  was  kept  up  with  all 
the  members  of  the  numerous  and  widely-extended  body 
of  Masonic  craftsmen ;  and  when  we  consider  the  unvary- 
ing uniformity  of  style  displayed  in  the  construction  of 

1  Le  livre  va  tuer  Fedifice.  L'invention  de  l'imprimerie  est  le  plus  grand 
evenement  de  l'histoire.  C'est  le  mode  de  l'expression  de  l'humanitie  qui  se 
renouvelle  totalement,  c'est  la  pensee  humaine  qui  depouille  line  forme  et  qui 
en  revit  une  autre.  C'est  le  complet  et  definitif  changement  de  peau  de  ce 
serpent  symbolique.  L' architecture  est  detronee.  Victor  Hugo,  Notre  Dame 
de  Paris,  Livr.  5ieme,  chap.  11. 

2  Hope,  Historical  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  241. 

3  Paly,  Manual  of  Gothic  Architecture,  pp.  206-207.  See,  however,  Poole, 
Ecclesiastical  Architecture  in  England,  p.  119,  where  doubts  are  expressed 
touching  the  uniformity  alleged. 

*  Hope,  ubi  supra,  cap.  xxxvi.,  gives  the  invention,  no  doubt  justly,  of  this 
feature  of  mediaeval  architecture  to  the  Germans.  See  Hawkins,  Hist,  of  the 
Origin  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  143. 


15$ 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


churches  and  cathedrals,  and  the  immense  number  erected 
in  every  country  till  the  overthrow  of  the  ancient  religion, 
we  shall  perceive  how  complete  the  intercourse  among  the 
Masons,  of  necessity,  must  have  been.1  With  the  extinc- 
tion of  mediaeval  Freemasonry,  many  of  the  abstruse  and 
abstract  principles  of  the  building  art  were  totally  lost.2 


1  Paly,  ubi  supra,  pp.  202,  220 ;  Hope,  ut  supra,  Vol.  I.,  p.  238. 

2  Touching  this,  see  Poole,  ubi  supra,  p.  118,  and  Hope,  Ibid.,  p.  527. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


Legendary  History  of  the  Masonic  Fraternity  —  Arts  and 
Sciences  Concealed  in  Columns  —  Tower  of  Babel  —  Euclid 
and  the  Egyptian  Princes  —  The  Israelites  obtain  Masonic 
Knowledge  from  Egypt  —  Solomon  and  Hiram  the  Chief  Archi- 
tects in  Building  the  Jewish  Temple  —  Namus  Graecus  Intro- 
duces Masonry  to  the  Frankish  King  Charles  Martel  —  Saint 
Alban,  of  England,  Procures  Masons  from  France  —  Calls  an 
Assembly  of  the  Craft  —  King  Athelstan  Confirms  the  Privi- 
leges of  the  Fraternity  —  Prince  Edwin  is  Initiated,  and 
becomes  Grand  Master  —  Collects  Traditions  and  Establishes 
Charges. 


1ST  order  to  suitably  terminate  this  portion  of  my 
work,  I  shall  now  proceed  to  give  a  detailed  nar- 
ration of  the  legendary  history  of  the  craft ;  of 
such  portions,  at  least,  as  were  current  among  the 


mediaeval  Freemasons,  and,  contrary  to  the  usual  method  of 
transcribing  the  traditions,  I  give  them  divested  of  their 
antique  phraseology,  which,  when  necessary,  will  be  found 
noted  in  the  margin.  The  operative  Masons  of  the  Middle 
Ages  had  accepted  the  division  of  all  knowledge  into 
seven  liberal  arts  and  sciences,  of  which,  as  previously 
stated,  Cassiodorus1  was  the  author,  and  were  thus  specified  : 
first,  Grammar,  which  inculcated  proper  use  of  orthogra- 
phy and  correct  speech  ;  second,  Rhetoric,  by  the  skilful 
application  of  which  the  Mason  could  argue  in  subtle 

1  This  septenary  arrangement  was  adopted  so  early  as  the  fifth  century,  by 
Marcianus  Capella.    Alcuinus,  in  the  eighth  century,  did  the  same,  with  no 
other  difference  than  including  arithmetic,  geometry,  music,  and  astronomy 
under  the  general  term  of  mathematics.    Fosbroke,  British  Monachism,  p.  247. 
14  .  157 


158 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


terms.  The  third  was  Dialectics,  by  which  he  was  enabled 
to  distinguish  truth  from  falsehood  ;  fourth,  Arithmetic 
aided  him  in  accurate  reckoning,  and  provided  established 
principles  for  scientific  accounts.  To  the  practical  work- 
man of  this  age,  the  fifth,  Geometry,  was  most  highly 
prized,  because,  according  to  his  article  of  belief,  this 
science  yielded  him  the  greatest  assistance  in  bounda- 
ries and  measurement  of  the  earth  and  of  all  things.  To 
express  adequately  the  high  appreciation  of  this  science,  he 
denominated  it  Masonry.  The  sixth  was  Music,  which 
regulated  and  attuned  the  voice  of  man  to  song,  and 
taught  him  the  harmonies  of  tongue  and  organ,  of  harp 
and  trumpet.  Astronomy,  the  seventh  and  last  division, 
delineated  the  course  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars. 

All  these  scholastic  sciences  the  mediaeval  craftsman 
assumed  to  be  the  outgrowth  of  one  unchangeable  princi- 
ple, which  was  geometry.1  After  having  demonstrated 
the  vast  obligation  which  all  classes  of  workmen,  and  the 
craft  in  general,  are  under  to  geometry,  the  manuscripts  pro- 
ceed to  define  the  descent  of  Masonry,  or  geometry,  from 
times  of  the  highest  antiquity.  They  allege  that  before 
the  flood  there  was  a  man  named  Lamech,  whose  children, 
among  whom  were  Jabell,  Jubell,  and  Tuball  Cain,  framed 
many  universal  sciences  ;  but  Jabell,  the  elder  son, 
invented  geometry,2  and  by  its  strict  rules  divided  the 
flocks  of  sheep  and  lambs -in  the  fields,  and  first  wrought 
stones  and  timber  for  dwellings.  Jubell,  his  brother,  estab- 
lished musical  science,  the  basis  of  song,  of  the  harp  and 
organ.  The  third  son,  Tuball  Cain,  was  distinguished  as 
the  inventor  of  the  art  of  working  gold,  silver,  copper,  iron, 
and  steel.  These  artists,  well  knowing  that  the  crimes  and 
sins  of  mankind  would  ultimately  be  avenged  by  a  univer- 


1  Cooke  MSS.,  No.  23,198. 

2  "  He  was  name  mast  mason  and  governor  of  all  Adam's  wsrkes  when  he 
made  ye  eitie  of  Enoch,"    Cooke  MSS.,  No.  23,198. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


159 


sal  deluge,  drew  up  their  several  sciences  and  committed 
them  to  the  silent  but  safe  custody  of  two  pillars  of  stone,1 
in  order  that,  after  the  subsidence  of  Noah's  flood,  future 
generations  might  possess  what  they  had  discovered.  One 
of  these  was  hewn  from  marble,  to  resist  the  ravages  of 
fire  ;  the  other  was  constructed  of  laterns,  in  order  to  with- 
stand inundation.2  After  the  deluge,  Sem's  grandson, 
Hermarynes,  subsequently  called  Hermes  the  Father  of 
Wise  Men,  found  one  of  these  stone  columns,  with  the 
written  tablets  contained  in  it.3  Through  this  discovery 
other  men  were  made  acquainted  with  the  science.4 

At  the  building  of  the  Tower  of  Babel,  Masonry  was 
first  regularly  organized  into  a  corporate  body.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Cooke  MSS.,  one  of  Noah's  sons  constructed  this 
famous  fabric,  and  for  services  rendered  by  masons  in  the 
work,  "  he  loved  and  cherished  them  well."  The  legends 
naively  assert5  that  Nimrod,  king  of  Babylon,  was  a 
Mason  himself,  and  deeply  interested  in  the  science.  And 
when  Nineveh  and  other  Oriental  cities  were  built,  Nim- 
rod,  at  the  request  of  his  cousin,  king  of  Nineveh,  pro- 
vided him  with  threescore  masons  to  assist  in  these  con- 
structions. Upon  their  departure,  Nimrod  gave  them 
strictly  in  charge  to  remain  steadfastly  true  to  one  another, 
avoid  dissensions  and  live  in  harmony,  and  that  they 
should  serve  their  lord  truly  for  pay,  in  order  that  the 
Master  might  always  have  proper  worship.    This  was  the 

1  Dowland  MSS.  "And  wherefore  they  writt  their  science  that  they  had 
found  in  two  pillars  of  stone,  that  they  might  be  found  after  Noyes  flood." 
Vide  Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Charges,  p.  26. 

2  Dowland  MSS ;  Hughan,  Ibid.  "  And  that  one  stone  was  marble,  for  that 
would  not  burn  with  fire ;  and  that  other  stone  was  laterns,  and  would  not 
drown  in  water." 

3  The  discovery  of  these  records  is  thus  mentioned  by  Dowland  MSS. : 
"Hermarynes  afterwards  found  one  of  the  two  pillars  of  stone,  and  found 
the  science  written  there."    Also  Hughan,  ut  supra. 

*  Dowland' s  MSS. ;  Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Charges,  p.  26. 
5  Cooke  MSS.,  No.  23,198. 


160 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


earliest  recorded  instance  of  Masons  having  had  charges 
given  them.  Abraham  went  into  Egypt  and  there  taught 
the  seven  liberal  sciences  to  the  people  of  that  country, 
and  among  others,  Euclid  was  his  disciple.1  Euclid  readily 
mastered  Masonry,  and  became  a  learned  master  of  the 
whole  seven  sciences.2  It  so  happened  in  his  day,  that 
lords  and  the  estates  of  the  Egyptian  kingdom  had  so 
largely  increased  their  families,  legitimately  and  other- 
wise, that  there  was  not  sufficient  sustenance  for  them. 
The  tradition  further  recites  that  Egypt  was  of  plenteous 
generation  on  account  of  extreme  heat.  In  order  to 
remedy  the  serious  difficulty  caused  by  this  vast  mul- 
tiplicity of  inhabitants,  the  royal  predecessor  of  the 
Pharaohs  summoned  a  grand  council  to  suggest  some 
means  by  which  the  children  of  Egypt  might  live  as 
gentlemen ;  but  this  illustrious  body  of  wise  Egyptians 
was  unable  to  meet  the  emergency,  and  were  compelled 
to  make  proclamation  for  some  one  wiser  than  themselves 
of  an  expedient,  for  which  he  should  receive  a  suitable 
reward.3 

In  consequence  of  this  solemn  edict,  Euclid  appeared,  and 
said  to  the  king  and  his  great  lords,  substantially  as  fol- 
lows :  "  If  you  will  permit  me  to  govern  your  children, 
and  to  teach  them  one  of  the  liberal  sciences,  they  shall 
cease  in  future  to  be  a  burden  to  your  lordships,  and  for 
this  purpose  I  demand  a  commission  or  charter  that  will 
enable  me  effectually  to  rule  them  in  such  manner  as  is 
consistent  with  the  regulations  of  science."  This  sage 
suggestion  was  forthwith  acted  upon,  and  Euclid,  possessed 
of  his  royal  warrant,  to  which  no  doubt  the  broad  seal  of 
Egypt  was  attached,  immediately  proceeded  to  inculcate 

1 "  Ye  clerke  euclyde  on  yys  wyse  hyt  founde, 
Yys  crafte  of  geometry  yn  egypt  londe." 

Halliwell  MkSS.,  17  Al,  folio  4. 
2  Dowland  MSS. ;  Hughan,  op.  et  loc.  cit. 
8  Dowland  MSS. ;  Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Charges,  p.  26. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


161 


into  these  genteel  sons  the  principles  of  geometry.1  He 
instructed  them  in  the  art  of  hewing  stone,  and  to  adapt  it 
to  the  building  of  churches,  castles,  towers,  temples,  etc. 
Others  say2  that  this  distinguished  scientist  signalized  him- 
self in  constructing  ditches  or  canals  to  irrigate  land  along 
the  river  !N"ile.  That  his  services  might  be  more  complete, 
and  deserving  of  the  encomiums  of  these  perplexed  aristo- 
crats, he  gave  them  charges,  and  ordained  that  they  should 
be  true  to  the  king  and  their  lord  for  whom  they  worked. 
They  should  also  love  one  another,  and  live  harmoniously 
together;  and  should  call  each  other  fellow  or  brother, 
not  servant  or  knave,  nor  other  scurrilous  name.  They 
should,  by  diligent  labor,  fairly  deserve  and  earn  their  pay 
of  the  master.  The  wisest  among  them  should  be  selected 
as  master,  not  on  account  of  his  lineage,  riches,  or  favor, 
but  for  his  merit  and  cunning  in  the  work,  and  all  this  in 
order  that  the  lord  or  employer  might  be  served  with 
fidelity  and  zeal.  The  governor  or  superintendent  of  the 
works  should  be  called  master.  Euclid  compelled  them  to 
swear  a  solemn  oath,  such  as  men  used  in  his  day,  that 
they  would  faithfully  preserve  these  regulations.  He  also 
decreed  reasonable  wages  sufficient  to  provide  for  an  honest 
livelihood.3  Furthermore,  that  each  year  thereafter  they 
should  assemble  in  general  convocation  to  discuss  such 
measures  as  would  best  serve  their  employers'  interests 
and  reflect  honor  upon  themselves.  He  granted  them  the 
power  to  correct  any  irregularities  arising  in  the  craft, 
and  call  to  account  all  who  trespassed  against  the  seieace 
of  masonry.4  In  this  manner  Euclid  established  geometry 
in  Egypt,  and  thenceforth  in  that  land  it  was  denominated 
Masonry. 

1  Then  Euclid : 

"Yn  Egypt,  he  taught  hyt  ful  wyde, 
Yn  dyvers  londe  on  every  syde." 

Halliwell  MSS.,  17  Al,.  folio  4L 

1  Cooke  MSS.,  No.  23,198. 

»  Dowland  MSS. ;  Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Charges,  p.  27.  4  Ibid. 

14*  L 


162 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


A  long  time  afterwards  the  children  of  Israel,  during  a 
sojourn  in  Egypt,  acquired  the  science  of  Masonry,  and 
when  they  were  driven  out  of  the  land  of  the  Egyptians, 
carried  their  Masonic  knowledge  into  the  land  of  Behest, 
or  Jerusalem.1  King  David  began  the  temple,  called  Tern- 
plum  Domini,  now  designated  as  the  temple  of  Jerusalem. 
Tli is  monarch  constituted  himself  a  patron  of  the  Masons, 
and  by  every  means  in  his  power  endeavored  to  show  how 
highly  he  prized  them.  Although  he  adhered  to  the  charges 
of  Euclid,  the  Masons  received  from  him  enlarged  powers 
for  the  internal  government  of  the  craft,  and  an  increase 
of  wages.  Upon  the  accession  of  Solomon  to  the  Israelitish 
throne,  he  pushed  forward  with  vigor  the  projects  of  his 
father,  and  hastened  the  completion  of  the  temple.  This 
king  collected  from  various  countries  of  the  world  a  larger 
class  of  skilled  workmen,  who  numbered  fourscore  thousand 
hewers  of  stone.  Among  other  changes  made  by  Solomon, 
he  selected  three  thousand2  of  the  most  expert  operatives, 
and  placed  them  as  governors  or  superintendents  of  the 
work.3  All  these  were  classed  under  the  general  term  of 
Masons.  At  this  time  Solomon  received  many  nattering 
indications  of  the  friendly  spirit  of  neighboring  rulers,  and 
among  others,  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,4  who  offered  him  the 
resources  of  the  Tyrian  kingdom.  By  this  means  the  king 
of  Israel  was  enabled  to  procure  such  timber  as  was  essential 
in  the  construction  of  the  temple.  A  son  of  Hiram,  Aynon,5 

1  Cooke  MSS.,  No.  23,198;  Dowland  MSS. ;  Hughan,  loc.  cit.  See  Part  II. 
of  this  work,  on  Faculty  of  Abrac. 

2  Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Charges,  p.  27.  The  Lansdowne  MSS.,  Plut.  lxxv., 
E,  also  fixes  the  number  of  master  craftsmen  at  three  thousand.  This  manu- 
script is  said  to  have  been  written  in  the  year  1560. 

3  See  Regulateur  du  Macon,  1801  (Grade  de  Maitre),  p.  17,  where  the  exact 
figures  furnished  by  Anderson  in  his  Ancient  Constitutions,  1723,  p.  10,  also 
appear,  and  lead  to  the  presumption  that  the  same  source  of  information  was 
accessible  to  both  compilations. 

*  Lansdowne  MSS.,  ut  supra,  and  Hughan,  ubi  supra. 

6  Dowland  MSS.;  Hughan,  Ibid.;  Harleian  MSS.,  No.  2054,  folio  34. 
The  Sloane  MSS.,  No.  3323,  says  Dynoi,  both  evidently  corrupted  from  Hiram. 


ANTIQ UITIES  OF  FREEMA SONR  Y.  3  6 3 

by  name,  was  appointed  master  mason  of  this  great  work, 
and  was  especially  distinguished  for  his  geometric  knowl- 
edge. He  was  chief  master  of  all  the  masons  engaged  in 
the  erection  of  the  Jewish  temple,  and  was  a  proficient 
master  of  engraving  and  carving,  and  all  manner  of  masonry 
required  for  the  sacred  edifice.  Solomon,  according  to  old 
books  of  the  craft,  confirmed  the  ancient  charges,  and 
sanctioned  the  customs  which  had  prevailed  during  his 
father's  reign,  which  the  chronicles  affirm  to  be  but  little 
different  from  those  then  practised.1  In  this  manner  the 
worthy  science  of  masonry  was  introduced  into  the  country 
of  Jerusalem,  and  thence  propagated  throughout  many 
kingdoms. 

In  those  distant  times,  as  well  as  in  our  age,  it  would  seem 
that  intelligent  workmen  were  inspired  with  a  laudable 
desire  to  render  themselves  more  proficient,  and  to  obtain 
from  more  skilled  operatives  that  art  knowledge  which 
they  possessed  not.  This  inducement  influenced  the  illus- 
trious Kaymus  Graecus,  or  Naymus  the  Grecian,  to  whom 
reference  at  length  has  been  made  heretofore.  Naymus, 
incited  by  a  zealous  impulse  to  acquire  a  thorough  and 
complete  mastery  of  Masonic  science,  had  repaired  to  the 
Jewish  metropolis,  and  placed  himself  under  the  instruction 
of  Hiram,  chief  master  at  the  building  of  Solomon's  tem- 
ple. Having  amassed  a  sufficient  fund  of  geometric  informa- 
tion, or  Masonry,  the  adventurous  Greek  abandoned  the 
Orient,  and,  weighted  with  Masonic  knowledge,  arrived 
in  France.  Here  he  was  right  royally  received  by  his 
majesty,  Charles  Martel.2  This  renowned  and  warlike 
nobleman  of  high  degree,  being  likewise  influenced  by  a 
sincere  wish  to  learn  the  arts  and  points  of  Masonry, 
selected  Naymus  Graecus  for  his  master,  who  taught  him 
this  science.  The  Carlovingian  monarch  voluntarily  took 
upon  himself  the  charges  and  customs  of  the  Masons  ;  and 

1  Cooke  MSS.,  No.  23,198. 

2  Or,  according  to  Cooke's  MSS.,  Charles  IL 


164 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


subsequently,  as  our  chroniclers  inform  us,  he  ascended  the 
throne  of  France.1  In  this  way  Masonry  was  established 
in  that  kingdom. 

During  the  successive  epochs  to  which  we  have  alluded, 
the  English  realm,  as  our  traditions  inform  us,  was  desti- 
tute of  the  science  of  Masonry.  This  state  of  lamentable 
ignorance  continued  down  to  the  age  of  Saint  Alban.2 
In  his  day  the  kings  of  England  were  still  accustomed  to 
practise  the  heathenish  rites  of  their  ancient  religion,  and, 
although  the  ruling  monarch  appears  to  have  detested  the 
principles  of  the  Christian  creed,  nevertheless,  urged  by 
the  necessities  of  barbaric  warfare,  and  desirous  of  having 
a  more  complete  system  of  fortifications,  the  king  induced 
Saint  Alban  to  wall  the  town,  which  subsequently  bore 
the  ecclesiastic's  name,  and  strengthened  its  natural  de- 
fences. This  worthy  saint  received  the  honors  of  knight- 
hood, from  whom  is  uncertain,  and  was  the  trusted 
steward  of  the  royal  household.  As  a  member  of  the 
king's  council,  he  governed  the  English  kingdom  with  all 
the  powers  of  a  prime  minister,  and  also  superintended 
all  building  operations  which  were  carried  on  to  fortify 
various  cities  in  the  land.  Saint  Alban  cherished  the 
Masons  with  much  zeal,  and,  in  addition  to  other  substan- 
tial tokens  of  his  love  for  the  fraternity,  he  gave  them  a 
practical  evidence  of  such  regard,  by  enhancing  the  price 


1  There  is  a  germinal  truth  in  the  quaint  assertion  of  these  Masonic  chron- 
icles, and  for  an  examination  of  the  probahle  relation  of  Charles  Martel  to 
Masons,  see  Part  II.,  p.  282,  etc. 

2  Plot,  Natural  History  of  Staffordshire,  §  85,  says  the  history  of  the  craft  in 
his  day  was  contained  "  in  a  parchment  volume,  which  is  there  deduced  not 
from  sacred  writ  but  profane  story,  and  particularly,  that  it  was  brought  into 
England  by  St.  Amphibal  and  communicated  to  St.  Alban."  In  this  point 
the  constitution  quoted  by  Krause,  Die  Drei  celtesten  Urkunden,  Bd.  II.,  Ab.  1, 
p.  84,  agrees  with  the  foregoing :  "  Amfiabalus  hiess  und  deiser  wurde  Lehrer 
(doctor)  des  heiligen  Albanns."  See  Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Charges,  p.  84,  for 
translation  of  the  entire  text. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  165 


of  labor  and  regulating  their  wages.1  He  enacted  that  the 
following  schedule  of  pay  should  thenceforth  be  observed 
throughout  the  realm,  viz. : 

For  a  Mason,  lis.  vi.  a  week. 

For  other  than  a  Mason,  \\\d.  a  week. 

Up  to  the  time  of  Saint  Alban,  an  English  mason 
received  only  a  penny,  with  his  meat,  for  each  day's  labor. 
Through  his  influence  the  king  and  council  were  induced 
to  grant  the  Masons  a  charter  for  better  government, 
which  furthermore  empowered  them  to  assemble  in  gen- 
eral convention.  To  this  convocation  the  name  of  assem- 
bly was  given.  Saint  Alban  attended  the  assembly,  and 
personally  assisted  in  making  Masons.  But  the  most 
valued  contribution  of  this  distinguished  prelate,  con- 
sisted in  the  presentation  to  the  craft  thus  convened  a 
set  of  charges.2 

After  the  death  of  St.  Alban,  the  kingdom  of  England 
was  rent  with  internal  dissensions  and  foreign  invasions 
to  such  extent  that  the  beneficent  rule  of  Masonry  was 
suspended  until  King  Athelstane  became  king.  This 
worthy  ruler  succeeded,  after  infinite  labor,  in  pacifying 
the  turbulence  of  his  subjects,  and  finally  reduced  the 
country  to  a  condition  of  peace  and  quietude.  Athelstane 
erected  a  number  of  important  public  edifices,  and  among 
these  were  many  abbeys  and  numerous  towns.  It  is 
particularly  mentioned  that  the  English  king  loved  the 

1  Nearly  all  the  ancient  manuscripts  are  agreed  as  to  the  benefactions  of 
this  saint,  and  that  he  first  brought  Masonry  into  England  during  Athelstane' s 
time.    The  Halliwell  MSS.,  17  Al,  folio  5,  is  very  brief  upon  this  question : 

"  Yys  crafte  come  yn  to  England  as  yu  yode  say 
Yn  tyme  of  good  Kynge  Aedelstand." 

2  Cooke  MSS.,  No.  23,198 ;  Dowland  MSS.  and  Hughan,  Old  Masonk 
Charges,  p.  28 ;  Lansdowne  MSS.,  No.  98,  Plut.  lxxv.,  E.  The  York  MSS. 
also  awards  praise  to  St.  Alban  in  this  behalf.  Preston,  Illustrations  of 
Masonry,  p.  103,  note  (5),  says,  in  this  connection,  that  many  of  the  records  con- 
taining the  history  of  St.  Alban  and  the  craft  were  purposely  destroyed  in 
the  year  1720,  by  a  misguided  zeal. 


166 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


Masons ;  but,  according  to  the  assertion  of  our  gossiping 
records,  not  nearly  so  much  as  his  son  Edwin,  "  for  he 
loved  the  Masons  more  than  his  father  did."  Edwin 
seems  to  have  possessed  a  decided  genius  for  geometry, 
and  yielded  to  the  attractions  of  Masonic  science,  which 
he  practised  with  intense  zeal.  And  in  order  to  make 
himself  more  proficient  in  the  details  of  this  art,  he 
gathered  around  him  the  craft,  and  communed  with  them. 
Subsequently,  as  it  would  appear,  from  pure  affection,  he 
was  initiated  into  their  secret  mysteries,  and  became  an 
ardent  Mason.1  By  virtue  of  his  royal  patronage,  he 
procured  for  the  Masons  a  charter  and  commission  to  hold 
once  in  each  year  a  general  assembly,  in  whatever  locality 
they  might  be  directed  to  convene  within  the  realm. 
Among  other  concessions  enumerated  in  this  warrant,  was 
the  power  to  correct  defaults  and  trespasses  which  would 
impair  the  success  of  Masonic  science.  Prince  Edwin 
called  an  assembly  of  the  fraternity  at  York,  and  "  there 
made  some  Masons."  He  enacted  a  system  of  charges, 
and  established  certain  usages,  which  he  strictly  enjoined 
upon  the  craft  evermore  to  obey.  The  prince  retained 
the  charter  in  his  own  custody,  and  ordained  that  the 
same  should  be  renewed  under  succeeding  reigns.  When 
this  famous  assemblage  of  Masons,  with  Edwin  as  Presi- 
dent or  Grand  Master,  bad  convened  at  York,  he  caused  a 
proclamation  to  be  made,  that  every  Mason,  old  or  young, 
having  in  his  possession  anything  touching  charges  or 
usages,  as  hitherto  practised  in  that  or  other  countries, 
whether  in  writing  or  merely  oral,  should  forthwith  pro- 
duce them.  After  the  publication  of  this  announcement, 
numerous  charges  were  brought  forward  and  delivered  to 
the  royal  Master.  Many  of  them  were  found  to  have 
been  written  in  French,  some  in  English,  others  in  Greek, 
and,  according  to  the  Lansdowne  manuscript,  some  were 


1  See  the  manuscripts  cited,  supra ;  and  Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Charges,  p.  28. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


167 


in  Hebrew  and  in  other  languages.1  The  spirit  of  these, 
upon  examination,  was  discovered  to  be  identical.  Edwin 
caused  them  to  be  drawn  up  in  book-form,  and  prefaced 
them  with  a  narrative  of  the  origin  of  geometry  or 
Masonic  science.  He  also  commanded  for  the  future,  at 
the  making  of  a  Mason,  these  charges  should  be  read  or 
recited  to  the  initiate.  And  thenceforth,  as  the  sage 
chronicler  observes,  Masonic  usages  have  rigidly  conformed 
to  this  order,  so  far  as  men  might  control  the  same.  Since 
the  time  of  Edwin,  frequent  assemblies  have  been  held, 
and  certain  charges  added  and  enjoined,  which,  in  the 
opinion  of  able  Masters  and  Fellows,  were  essential  to  the 
interests  of  the  fraternity.  Here  the  legendary  narrative 
terminates ;  then  one  of  the  wardens  shall  hold  the  Book, 
so  that  he  or  they,  who  are  to  be  accepted  as  Masons, 
should  place  their  hands  in  position  upon  it,  and  then  the 
charges  must  be  read : 2 

Every  man  who  shall  be  made  a  Mason  will  take  heed 
of  these  charges,3  and  if  any  one  find  himself  guilty  of  * 
violating  them,  or  any  of  them,  he  must  make  humble 
amends  to  God.  The  most  important  of  all  is,  for  him 
who  has  taken  upon  himself  these  charges,  to  have  pre- 
caution to  keep  the  same,  because  it  is  a  great  peril  if  a 
man  forswear  or  perjure  himself  upon  the  book  (Bible). 
The  first  charge  is  that  a  Mason  shall  be  true  to  God  and 
the  Holy  Church,  and  shall  countenance  neither  error  nor 

1  Halliwell  and  the  Cooke  MSS.  say  nothing  of  Hebrew  or  Greek. 

2  "Tunc  unus  ex  senioribus  teneat  Librum  ut  ille  vel  illi  poniat  vel  poniant 
manus  super  Librum  et  tunc  precepta  deberent  legi."  This  formal  direction 
is  to  be  found  in  nearly  all  the  old  manuscripts.  The  foregoing  is,  however, 
copied  from  one  of  the  York  craft  records  and  the  Harleian  manuscript,  No. 
2054. 

3  Although  the  following  portions  of  the  history  of  the  fraternity  cited  in 
the  text  belong  more  properly  to  its  antiquities,  and  should  perhaps  be  treated 
of  in  Part  II.  of  this  work,  nevertheless,  for  the  purpose  of  presenting  in  a 
connected  form  these  charges  preserved  by  tradition,  I  have  decided  to  add 
them  here. 


168 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


heresy,  deduced  from  his  own  understanding  or  from  the 
teachings  of  learned  men.1  He  was  also  obliged  by  his 
oath  to  be  a  true  and  liege  man  to  the  kings  of  England, 
without  treason  or  falsehood,  and  in  case  he  became  privy 
to  such  treason  or  treachery,  it  was  his  duty  to  make  suit- 
able amend,  if  possible,  or  warn  his  sovereign  or  council 
of  such  designs.  Masons  should  be  true  and  faithful  to 
one  another :  that  is,  every  Mason  regularly  initiated  into 
the  science  of  Masonry  or  so  accepted,  should  do  unto  other 
Masons  as  he  would  they  should  do  unto  him.  Each  crafts- 
man was  compelled  to  preserve  with  zealous  care  lodge 
deliberations  or  secrets  of  the  chamber,  and  all  other  coun- 
cils which,  so  far  as  affected  Masonry,  ought  to  be  con- 
cealed. It  was  also  charged  upon  the  fraternity  that  no 
member  should  be  addicted  to  thieving,  but  must  restrain 
his  brethren  by  every  means  within  his  power;  that  he 
should  be  true  to  the  lord  or  master  whom  he  served,  or 
for  whom  he  worked,  and  labor  honestly  for  his  employer's 
profit  and  advantage.  Masons  shall  call  one  another  as 
brothers  or  fellows,  and  avoid  objectionable  names  ;  nor 
shall  they  take  their  brother's  wife  in  villany.  No  Mason 
should  tolerate  an  unchaste  desire  for  his  fellow's  daughter 
or  servant,  nor  put  his  master  to  shame.  Wherever  the 
craft  lodged,  they  should  pay  in  all  fairness  for  their  meat 
and  drink,  and  were  carefully  enjoined  against  the  com- 
mission of  any  villanous  acts  in  that  place  which  might 
bring  discredit  or  slander  upon  the  science  of  Masonry.2 
These  were  the  charges  which  affected  all  Masons  in  general, 
but  were  also  to  be  observed  by  Masters  and  Fellows. 
Other  rules,  particularly  designed  for  the  Masters  and 
Fellows,  are  substantially  as  follows :  That  no  master  should 
assume  any  lord's  work  unless  he  knew  himself  qualified 

1  "  lie  must  love  God  and  holy  church  always."  Halliwell  MSS.,  17  Al, 
folio  11 ;  Lansdowne  MSS.,  No.  98  Plut.  L.,  xxv.  E. 

2  The  several  manuscripts  already  referred  to  have  been  used  in  preparing 
the  regulations  given  in  the  text. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


169 


to  complete  the  same,  in  order  that  the  craft  and  science 
might  not  be  brought  into  disrepute,  and  in  order  that 
the  lord  might  be  well  and  truly  served.  It  was  enjoined 
that  each  master  builder  should  avoid  contracting  for 
specific  labor,  but  was  required  to  take  it  at  reasonable 
rates,  so  that  his  employer  might  be  abundantly  aided 
with  his  own  goods,  that  the  Master  could  live  honestly 
and  pay  the  Fellows  justly  the  wages  due  them,  according 
to  a  proper  schedule.  Neither  a  Master  Mason  nor  a  Fellow 
was  permitted  to  supplant  one  another  in  individual  work  ; 
that  is  to  say,  if  any  one  had  agreed  to  superintend  a  lord's 
work,  no  one  should  undermine  him,  particularly  if  he 
were  able  to  finish  the  job  as  undertaken.  All  appren- 
tices must  be  taken  for  a  period  of  seven  years,  at  least, 
and  such  apprentice  was  required  to  be  able,  free-born,  his 
limbs  and  members  sound,  without  blemish,  as  a  man 
should  be.1  No  Mason  could  be  made  a  Master  or  Fellow, 
without  the  assent  and  counsel  of  his  fellows,  before  six  or 
seven  years  had  elapsed ;  and  whoever  would  be  made  a 
Mason,  in  order  to  receive  his  degrees,  must  be  a  free-born 
citizen  of  good  repute,  and  having  a  reputation  for  fidelity, 
and  not  a  bondsman.  No  Mason  should  receive  an  appren- 
tice unless  he  had  occupation  for  two  Fellows,  or  perhaps 
three.  When  any  work  had  hitherto  been  accustomed  to 
be  done  as  task  or  contract  labor,  no  master  should  be 
allowed  to  take  a  lord's  work  by  the  day,  or,  as  it  was 
designated,  by  the  journey.  Every  Master  Mason  was 
necessitated  to  provide  suitable  compensation  for  his  fel- 
lows, for  such  at  least  as  were  deserving  of  it,  and  especial 
care  was  to  be  taken  that  false  workmen  did  not  deceive 

1  It  will  suffice  to  quote  here  Halliwell  MSS.,  17  Al,  as  containing  the 
most  ancient  traditional  foundations  upon  which  speculative  Freemasonry 
rests. 

"  Yat  he  no  bondsman  prentys  make."  folio  7. 

"  So  yat  ye  prentes  be  of  lawful  blod, 
Make  no  prentys  yat  ys  outrage, 
Yat  he  have  hys  lymes  hoi  all      fere."  Art.  5. 

15 


170 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


the  craft.  No  regulation  was  more  rigorously  insisted  upon 
than  that  which  prohibited  the  craftsmen  from  slandering 
or  speaking  evil  of  a  brother  behind  his  back,  to  cause  him 
to  lose  a  good  name  and  his  worldly  goods  ;  nor  should  a 
Fellow,  within  or  without  the  lodge,  give  an  ungodly  or 
reproachful  answer  to  one  of  the  fraternity  without  just 
cause.  Every  Mason  must  reverence  his  elder  and  put  him 
to  worship.1  Games  of  hazard  or  dice,  or  other  unlawful 
plays,  were  forbidden,  lest  the  science  of  Masonry  should 
be  unjustly  slandered;  and  no  Mason  should  be  guilty  of 
lecherous  conduct,  nor  a  frequenter  of  bawdy  houses, 
whereby  the  craft  might  suffer  for  the  delinquencies  of  a 
few.  And  in  order  that  every  contingency  of  evil  habits 
and  associations  might  be  provided  for,  whenever  a  Fellow 
went  into  town  at  night  to  attend  a  lodge  of  Masons,  a 
brother  must  accompany  him,  to  attest  as  an  eye-witness  that 
he  was  in  an  honest  place.2  All  Masons,  whether  Masters 
or  Fellows,  were  obligated  to  be  present  at  every  assembly,3 
upon  due  notice,  if  convenient  and  within  ten  or  fifty 
miles  of  the  place  where  the  same  was  convened.  Any 
Master  infringing  upon  Masonic  rules  must  abide  the 
award  of  his  brethren,  upon  his  conscience  ;  but  if  he  felt 
aggrieved  at  the  arbitration  of  the  Masters  and  Fellows,  he 
was  at  liberty  to  prosecute  his  suit  at  common  law.  No 
Master  or  Fellow  should  make  a  mould  or  square  or  rule 
for  a  layer,  nor  was  he  permitted  to  set  a  layer  within  or 
without  the  lodge  to  hew  or  mould  stones.  Strange 
Fellows  were  to  be  received  and  cherished  by  each  Mason 
whenever  they  came  over  the  country.    They  were  to  be 

1  Dowland's  MSS. ;  Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Charges,  p.  30 ;  Harleian  MSS., 
No.  2054.  The  Harleian  manuscript  distinctly  says  the  master  shall  be  ad- 
dressed as  "  worshipful."  "  Yat  ordeynt  he  maystr  ycalled  so  schulde  he  be  so 
y*  he  were,  most  y  worshiped,  yonne  schilde  he  be  so  ycleped." 

2  Harleian  MSS.,  No.  2054,  Art.  12  ;  Dowland  MSS. ;  Hughan,  vi  supra. 

3  "  Every  maystr  yat  fa  a  mason 

Most  ben  at  ye  general  congregation." 

Halliwell  MSS.,  17  Al,  Art.  2. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


171 


given  work  if  desired,  or,  as  the  usage  was,  in  case  the 
Master  of  the  lodge  had  no  mould  stone  at  hand  where- 
with to  provide  the  strange  brother  work,  he  should  con- 
tribute to  his  refreshment  with  money  to  assist  him  to  the 
next  lodge.  A  Master  Mason,  under  covenant  to  finish 
his  work,  whether  it  might  be  by  journey  or  task  work, 
was  bound  to  complete  such  undertaking  according  to 
contract,  in  order  that  he  might  earn  his  pay  and  serve  his 
lord  well.  The  charges  recited  were  binding  upon  each 
and  every  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  were 
sworn  to  be  observed  to  the  utmost,  under  the  sanction  of 
God,  the  holy-dome,1  and  upon  the  Book. 

1  Evidently  derived  from  a  very  old  form  of  administering  an  oath,  upon 
the  shrine  in  which  the  sacred  relics  of  some  martyred  saint  were  enclosed. 
The  chest  or  box  in  which  these  bones  were  contained  was  usually  constructed 
in  imitation  of  a  small  house.  Hence  holy,  with  direct  reference  to  the  sanc- 
tity of  relics,  and  domus,  Lat.  for  house,  by  gradual  elision  into  holidomus, 
later  holy-dome. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

German  Legendary  History  of  the  Freemasons  —  Traced  Bac*k 
to  Diocletian's  Time — Traditions  of  the  Four  Martyred  Stone- 
cutters —  Refuse  to  Obey  Royal  Order  to  Engrave  an  Idola- 
trous Image  —  Their  Terrible  Death  —  Authentic  Historical 
Relics  of  these  Eminent  Masonic  Patron  Saints  —  French 
Freemasons  Trace  their  History  to  Saint  Blasius  —  This  Saint 
Suffered  Martyrdom  under  Diocletian  —  Very  Ancient  Craft 
Documents  make  no  Reference  to  the  Solomonian  Theory  of 
Masonic  Origin  —  Earliest  Traditions  Assume  merely  to  Give 
the  Progress  of  Geometric  Science. 

NGrLISH  Freemasonry  possesses  a  more  complete 
legendary  history  of  the  craft  than  that  of  any 
other  nation.  The  German  Masons  traced  their 
origin  to  a  much  later  period.  In  all  authentic 
enactments,  or  articles  of  constitution,  which  contain  the 
few  meagre  details  of  early  Teutonic  Masonry,  no  higher 
date  is  assigned  for  its  inception  than  about  the  time  of 
Diocletian.  The  ordinance  of  the  year  1462,  to  which  fre- 
quent allusion  has  been  made,  as  furnishing  information 
not  procurable  elsewhere,  in  the  prefatory  clauses,  recites,1 
"that  the  Masters  in  Oberland  and  Regensburg,  having 
associated  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  up  in  book-form  the 
edicts  and  regulations  appertaining  to  the  craft,  had  now 
prepared  the  same  in  strict  accordance  with  ancient  tradi- 
tions accepted  by  the  fraternity."  They  assert  that  the 
several  articles  were  transcribed  from  the  text  of  old  stand- 

1  Vide  Proem,  sup.  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  v.  Yahre  1462 :  "  Inn  diesem 
Lande  nach  gewonheit  als  disz  Bueh  clerlich  ausweist, "  u.  8.  w. 

172 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY 


173 


ard  customs,  such  as  had  been  established  by  those  vener- 
able artificers  Claudius,  Christorius,  and  Signifieamus, 
crowned  as  sainted  martyrs  for  the  glory  of  Mary,  the 
celestial  queen,  and  the  praise  of  the  holy  Trinity.  Some- 
times four  martyrs  are  specified  as  Christian  stonecutters, 
and  denominated  the  Crowned,  because,  according  to  the 
legend,  they  refused  to  obey  an  order  of  the  Eoman 
emperor  Diocletian  —  others  say  Tiberius — to  build  a 
heathen  temple,  and,  in  consequence  of  their  disobedience, 
were  thrown  into  the  river  Tiber,  whereupon  four  radi- 
ant crowns  appeared  before  the  startled  vision  of  their 
persecutors,  and  hovered  above  the  drowning  saints. 
These  martyrs  are  frequently  designated  in  the  stone- 
cutters' constitutions,1  but  in  none,  excepting  that  of 
1462,  is  the  number  limited  to  three.  There  is  a  variety 
of  traditions  relating  to  this  portion  of  German  Masonic 
history.2  In  addition  to  the  tradition  referred  to  above, 
the  four  martyrs,  whose  names  are  given  as  Severus, 
Severianus,  Carpophorus,  and  Victorinus,  were  Christians 
under  Diocletian.  He  ordered  them  to  sacrifice  to  heathen 
gods,  and,  on  their  refusal,  caused  them  to  be  executed.3 
After  the  lapse  of  time,  as  the  legend  runs, — about  two 
years  subsequent  to  the  martyrdom  mentioned, —  five 
craftsmen,  deeply  skilled  in  statuary,  viz.,  Claudius,  Cas- 
torius,  Nicostratus,  Simplicius,  and  Symphorianus,  were 
instructed  to  prepare  for  him  an  image  of  his  tutelary 
deity.  They  declined  to  obey  the  imperial  mandate,  and, 
by  order  of  the  emperor,  these  staunch  sculptors  were 
enclosed  in  separate  lead  coffins,  and  quietly  sunk  into  the 

1  Als  sie  weigerten  einen  heidnischen  Tempel  zu  bauen  in  die  Tiber  gestiirzt 
wurden,  worauf  ueber  ihnen  in  Himmel  vier  Kronen  erschienen.  Stieglitz, 
Ueber  die  Kirche  der  h.  Kunigunde  zu  Rochlitz,  p.  29 ;  Ibid.,  Geschichie  der  Bau- 
kunst,  p.  618. 

2  Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer  vxihren  Bedeutung,  p.  257  (Anlage  1),  el.  seq., 
gives  the  fullest  details  and  information  touching  the  interesting  history  of 
these  patron  saints  of  German  Masons. 

3  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukumt,  p.  617. 

15* 

i 


174 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


sea.  As  a  memorial  of  their  illustrious  death,  the  pope 
ultimately  raised  them  to  the  dignity  of  saints.  In  Rome, 
on  Coelius  Hill,  a  small  church  is  still  preserved,  dedicated 
to  the  Quattro  Santi  Coronati.1  In  the  year  847,  when  Pope 
Leo  IV.  restored  this  chapel,  the  remains  of  the  four 
sainted  martyrs,  Severus,  Severianus,  Carpophorus,  and 
Victorinus,  were  buried  there  and  received  holy  adoration, 
and  were  called  the  four  crowned.  The  same  pope  also 
caused  the  bodies  of  the  five  other  canonized  saints  to  be 
placed  there  —  Claudius,  Nicostratus,  Sinforiamus,  Casto- 
rus,  and  Simplicius,  who,  as  sculptors,  suffered  death 
rather  than  chisel  out  the  image  of  a  heathen  divinity. 
Cardinal  Mellino,  vicar  of  Pope  Urban  VIII.,  beautified 
the  church,  and  Paschal  II.  caused  it  to  be  repaired.  The 
truth  of  the  preceding  narrative  is  attested  by  an  old 
work  cited'  by  Stieglitz,2  and  it  is  a  noticeable  fact  that 
this  compilation  of  Roman  antiquities  specifically  refers 
to  the  four  crowned  as  soldiers,  while  the  five  martyrs  are 
designated  as  sculptors.  This  need  occasion  no  confusion, 
when  it  is  considered  that  the  ancient  stonecutters  prac- 
tised the  art  of  statuary. 

A  contributor  to  the  Archceologia3  relates  that  two  work- 
men of  porphyry  were  put  to  death  by  Diocletian,  on  ac- 
count of  their  refusing  to  assist  in  rebuilding  a  heathen 
temple.  In  support  of  his  assertion,  he  cites  a  Latin 
author,  who  gives  it  as  a  historical  fact.  It  is  not  im- 
probable that  the  subsequent  traditions  touching  the 
ancient  founders  of  German  Masonry  may  have  developed 
from  these  martyred  artificers.    The  crowned  saints  appear 


'  Stieglitz,  Die  Kirche  der  heiligen  Kunigunde  zu  Rochlitz,  p.  30.  Ibid.,  Ges- 
chichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  618. 

2  Baukunst,  p.  618,  Roma  antica  e  moderna,  etc.,  Roma,  1677,  p.  398.  See 
Stieglitz,  Ueber  die  Kirche  zu  Rochlitz,  ut  supra.  Seroux  d'Agincourt,  Hist,  de 
VArt,  PI.  lxix,  fig.  31,  furnishes  an  illustration  of  a  column  standing  in  front 
of  the  church  de  Qnattro  Santi  Coronati. 

3  Vol.  XXX.,  p.  118. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


175 


to  have  obtained  a  high  degree  of  popularity  during  the 
Middle  Ages,  not  only  among  operative  Masons,  but  also 
with  religious  bodies.  As  a  suitable  attestation  of  the 
favorable  opinion  conceived  of  them  by  the  Romish 
church,  reference  may  be  made  to  the  paintings  of  the 
celebrated  Giovanni  di  San  Giovanni,  representing  the 
terrible  martyrdom  of  the  sacred  four,  which  was  por- 
trayed in  an  oratory  adjoining  the  church  of  the  Quattro 
Santi.  These  pictures  are  in  fresco,  of  rare  merit,  deline- 
ated on  the  side  of  the  altar-piece,  and  are  representative 
of  scenes  from  the  martyrs'  death.  The  saints  are  inserted 
between  planks  or  stone  slabs,  ready  to  be  cast  into  the 
river.  Other  frescoes  descriptive  of  these  martyrs'  lives 
are  visible  in  the  same  edifice  —  one  of  which  shows  a 
death  by  lapidation,  and  a  subsequent  enclosure  between 
slabs.  The  last  mentioned  pictures,  Stieglitz 1  believes  to 
be  of  a  more  recent  date,  and  are  of  less  merit  than  the 
former.  Another  portraiture  of  the  four  crowned  is  to  be 
seen  in  the  cathedral  at  Pavia,  back  of  the  memorial  to 
Saint  Augustine.  They  are  elaborately  cut  in  bas-relievo, 
and  individually  designated  by  name  —  Claudius,  Nicos- 
tratus,  Symforiamus, 'and  Simplicius.  Each  of  them  is 
possessed  of  the  attributes  of  a  stonemason's  art,  viz.,  a 
hammer  (mallet),  circle,  chisel,  and  other  working  tools. 
Simplicius  holds  in  his  hand  a  partially  unrolled  parch- 
ment scroll,  upon  which  the  following  words  are  hewn  : 
Martuor.  Coronatorum.  This  method  of  delineating  these 
ancient  patrons  of  German  Masonry  was  not  confined  to 
Italy,  nor  to  ecclesiastical  patronage. 

A  painting,  by  an  unknown  and  very  old  German  artist, 
still  extant  in  1829,2  in  a  collection  of  Dr.  Campe  at  Nurem- 
burg,  contains  the  half-length  figures  of  Claudius,  Castorius, 
and  Simblicius,  whose  heads  are  surrounded  by  the  glorious 


1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  619. 

2  Stieglitz,  Ueber  die  Kirche  der  heiligen  Kunigunde  zu  Rochlitz,  p.  30. 


176 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


halo  of  martyrdom ;  and  beneath  them  the  word  "  Ge- 
krontn,"or  crowned.  Whatever  trifling  deviation  there  is 
of  names  here  mentioned  from  those  which  head  the  articles 
of  1462,  has  no  doubt  originated  by  careless  copying.  This 
painting,  a  copy  of  which  prefaces  the  edition  of  the  Torgau 
ordinances  by  Stieglitz,  depicts  Claudius  as  busily  engaged 
in  drawing  out  designs  on  a  trestle-board,  with  gauge  and 
square.  Castorius  stands  behind  him,  apparently  directing 
the  plans  as  master  of  the  work,  while  Simblicius,  with  a 
pick-hammer  under  his  left  arm,  is  awaiting  to  execute  the 
diagram.  Although  the  names  of  these  saints,  in  some 
slight  degree,  are  variously  written,  yet  they  appear  to  be 
so  substantially  identical  as  to  admit  of  no  other  rational 
conjecture.  When  it  is  considered  that  the  traditions 
growing  out  of  the  historical  martyrdom  mentioned,  had 
been  handed  down  through  a  long  line  of  succeeding  cen- 
turies, it  will  sufficiently  explain  the  variations  occurring 
in  the  nomenclature  of  the  holy  four  or  five  crowned ;  and 
from  the  same  cause  would  naturally  arise  changes  in  tra- 
ditional versions  of  a  legend  originally  uniform,  whether 
the  canonized  saints  might  have  attained  terrestial  adora- 
tion and  a  celestial  crown,  by  reason  of  a  refusal  to  assist 
in  constructing  temples  in  which  the  devout  pagan  was  to 
celebrate  the  religious  rites  under  whose  observance  his 
country  had  subjugated  and  conquered  all ;  or  because,  as 
Christian  converts,  they  had  declined  the  offer  of  imperial 
patronage  to  prostitute  the  consecrated  mallet  and  chisel 
to  carving  out  of  pallid  marble  the  material  type  of  decay- 
ing divinity.  This  view  is,  perhaps,  more  in  harmony  with 
the  dictates  of  sound  judgment,  since,  as  already  urged,  the 
early  and  later  mediaeval  stonecutters  prepared  the  imagery 
which  diversifies  the  grand  cathedrals  of  Europe.  Moreover, 
the  ordinance  of  the  year  1462  expressly  states  that  three  of 
the  above  saints  were  the  originators  of  such  ancient  usages 
and  laws  as  had  descended  to  that  epoch.1    From  the 


Proem,  Ordnung  der  Sieinmetzen  v.   Yahre  1462.     In  the  introductory 


0 

ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


177 


accepted  fact  that  the  era  of  the  martyrdom  of  these  worthy- 
artificers  is  assigned  to  so  remote  a  time  as  the  age  of 
Diocletian,  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  Byzantine  artists 
transmitted  this  legend  to  Germany,  and  introduced  it  into 
that  country  as  a  part  of  corporate  traditions.  As  pre- 
viously stated,  a  reference  is  made  to  the  four  martyrs1  in 
the  legendary  history  of  English  Freemasonry,  and  occurs 
in  but  one  ancient  manuscript  extant  in  England,  viz.,  the 
Codex  Hal li well,  which  is  certainly  the  earliest  record  of 
the  kind  in  the  kingdom.  Erom  this  it  would  seem  that 
at  some  period,  however  remote,  the  Masonic  traditions  of 
these  countries  were  identical.2 

The  Master  Masons  who  assembled  at  Torgau,  in  the 
year  1462,  in  order  to  prepare  a  solemn  protest  against  the 
violation  of  established  landmarks,  were  guided  in  their 
deliberations  by  older  documents  than  those  drawn  up  at 
Strassburg  in  1459,  because  the  ordinance  of  1462  directly 
asserts  that  the  good  customs  and  ancient  usages,  such  as 
had  obtained  among  the  earlier  Masons,  had  fallen  into 
disuse,  and  it  was  there  asserted  to  be  the  determination  to 
restore  such  ancient  customs  for  the  general  welfare  of  the 
fraternity ;  in  order  to  accomplish  this  design,  the  several 
articles  compiled  at  that  time  are  solemnly  pronounced  to 
be  copied  from  the  text  of  an  older  supreme  law.3  It 
clearly  appears  from  the  phraseology  in  which  this  regula- 
tion is  written,  that  many  portions  of  the  same  had  been 
hitherto  transmitted  orally,  from  time  immemorial  to  the 
period  of  the  convocation,  and  these  parts  especially  furnish 

clause  of  the  Strassburg  articles  of  1459,  the  regulations  are  declared  to  be 
prepared  in  eternal  remembrance  of  the  four  martyrs :  "  Der  Heiligen  vier 
gekronten  zu  ewiges  Gedechtnisse  angesehen."  Vide  Krause,  Die  Drei  celtesten 
Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  II.,  Ab.  1,  p.  269. 

1  Supra,  p.  124;  Halliwell  MSS.,  17  Al. 

2  Findel,  Geschichte  der  Freimaurerei,  p.  85 ;  Keller,  Kurzgefasste  Geschichte 
der  Freimaurerei,  p.  7. 

3  Auch  alle  diese  artigkel  sindt  gemacht  worden  ausz  dem  Texte  des  alden 
Haubtenrechtes.  Proem,  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen,  1462,  Stieglitz's  ed.,  p.  60. 

M 


178 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


■ 


a  key  for  further  investigation  into  internal  usages  as 
observed  by  the  mediaeval  builders,  not  to  be  found  in  any 
Masonic  document  of  that  age.  A  careful  examination  of 
this  ordinance,  will  verify  the  allegation  that  the  Masters 
convened  in  Torgau  purposely  drew  up  the  articles  con- 
tained in  it  from  such  rules  as  had  prevailed  for  lodge 
government  during  many  preceding  centuries,  and  more- 
over, transcribed  with  zealous  accuracy  those  ancient  pre- 
scriptions which,  according  to  old  tradition,  were  instituted 
by  the  holy  martyrs,  in  order,  apparently,  to  give  their 
enactment  a  greater  degree  of  authority,  and  render  it 
more  binding  upon  the  craft.  A  close  and  dispassionate 
comparison  of  the  Strassburg  ordinance  of  1459  with  the 
one  under  consideration,  will  convince  a  candid  inquirer 
that  ancient  and  traditional  usages  are  the  foundations 
upon  which  both  rest ;  each  of  them  claiming,  in  the  pre- 
fatory clauses,  to  have  descended  from  the  holy  crowned 
saints.1  Notwithstanding  the  evident  identity  of  legendary 
origin,  the  regulations  of  Torgau  evince  a  more  rigid  ad- 
herence to  old  landmarks,  and  manifest  an  undoubted  con- 
servatism. In  the  former,  the  relative  duties  of  Masters, 
Pallirer  (Wardens),  and  Fellows,  are  noted,  and  particular 
reference  is  made  to  apprentices ;  while  the  latter  ordinance 
betrays  an  intentional  disregard  of  apprentices,  as  the  fol- 
lowing direct  assertion  from  the  preface  sufficiently  attests : 
"  We  Masters,  Pallirer,  and  Fellows,  have  copied  out  of  the 
book  several  portions  which  are  necessary  to  all  operative 
masters  in  chief,  and  to  the  fellows  ;"2  consequently,  by  the 

1  i7u'd,pp.59,  60 ;  also,  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  zu  Strassburg,  1459,  in  Krause, 
Die  Drei  celtesten  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  II.,  Ab.  1,  p.  269. 

2  Auch  haben  wir  vorgennante  meister,  pallirer  und  gesellen  aus  dem  buche 
gezogen  und  genoraen  Etzliche  Stucke,  etc.  The  ordinance  of  1462,  from 
which  the  foregoing  quotation  is  taken,  designates  the  wardens  as  Pallirer, 
but  the  Strassburg  regulations,  published  by  Krause,  Die  Drei  celtesten  Kunstur- 
kunden,  Theil  II.,  Ab.  1,  p.  263,  et  seq.,  call  these  officers,  Parlirer.  My  edition, 
published  by  Stieglitz,  1829,  is  a  sworn  transcript  of  the  Torgau  Constitution 
verbatim  et  literatim,  as  copied  directly  from  the  manuscript,  still  extant  in  the 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


179 


law  of  both  convocations,  whether  express  or  implied,  the 
older  regulations  affecting  apprentices  were  still  considered 
in  force.  It  was  also  ordered  that  the  craft  should  meet 
each  year  at  a  designated  time,  and  that  the  laws  as  enacted, 
together  with  any  amendments,  should  be  either  publicly 
proclaimed  or  remain  open  to  the  inspection  of  all  during 
the  session  of  this  grand  body. 

In  treating  of  Masonic  legendary  history,  it  is  worthy 
of  consideration  that  the  French  Masons  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  earlier,  claimed  for  their  corporation  a  high 
antiquity.  They  declared  Saint  Blase,  or  Blaise,  to  be 
their  patron  saint,  but  for  what  reason  does  not  satisfac- 
torily appear.  Singularly  enough,  in  point  of  time,  the 
Teutonic  and  Gallic  traditions  perfectly  coincide.  Blaise, 
according  to  the  author  of  Eccentricities  of  Literature* 
suffered  martyrdom  under  the  Emperor  Diocletian,  in  the 
year  289,  for  what  cause,  independent  of  his  Christian 
profession,  is  not  stated.  This  martyred  proselyte  was 
invoked  by  such  persons  as  were  afflicted  with  infirmities 
of  body  or  mind,  and,  if  the  legendary  records  may  be 
accredited,  with  extraordinary  success.  People  kindled 
fires  upon  high  places  in  his  honor,  on  the  2d  of  February, 
a  day  fixed  in  old  almanacs  as  very  cold.  The  Masonic 
fraternity  of  Paris,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  donated  all 
fines  arising  from  an  infraction  of  their  rules  to  the  chapel 
of  Saint  Blase.2  So  late  as  the  year  1476,  the  corporation 
of  Masons  instituted  a  confraternity  with  the  carpenters 
under  the  name  of  this  saint,  at  a  chapel  in  Rue  Garland 
in  Paris.3  Boileau's  regulations  of  the  year  1254  afford  no 


Lodge  of  Kochlitz.  My  reasons  for  preferring  the  word  as  given  above,  are 
Bet  forth  in  the  Second  Part  of  this  work. 

1  Edition  1822,  p.  348. 

2  Et  se  il  le  prenoit  a  mains  de  vj  ans,  il  est  a  xx  S  de  par  d'amende,  a  paier 
a  la  chapele  Monseigneur  Saint-Blesve.  Boileau,  Reglemens  sur  les  Metiers, 
cap.  xlviii. 

3  Depping,  Reglements  sur  les  Metiers  de  Paris,  cap.  48,  note  (1). 


180 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


clue  by  which  the  stonecutters  of  that  or  earlier  ages  were 
induced  to  select  this  martyr  for  their  patron.  It  may  be 
conjectured,  however,  that  this  class  of  artisans,  being 
particularly  exposed  to  corporeal  injury,  accepted  the 
patronage  of  Saint  Blaise  for  his  presumed  efficacy  in 
the  healing  art.  Another  point  of  startling  coincidence 
in  remoteness  of  tradition  between  the  English  and  French 
craftsmen  of  that  period,  is  the  occurrence  of  Charles 
Martel's  name  in  the  record  of  1254.  The  Parisian  Masons 
declared  that  all  stonecutters  were  exempt  from  watch 
duty,  an  exemption  which,  they  asserted,  was  conceded  to 
them  by  Charles  Martel,  and  that  this  privilege  had  de- 
scended to  them  by  immemorial  prescription  from  the 
time  of  that  valiant  soldier;  —  a  concession  acknowledged 
dependent  upon  no  grant  or  written  document,  but,  as  they 
avowed,  they  had  heard  say  "  from  father  to  son."  1  Conse- 
quently, the  belief  prevailed  so  early  as  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  that  the  fraternity  of  stonemasons 
was  as  ancient,  at  least,  as  the  Carlovingian  dynasty.  I 
have  already  noted  my  reasons  for  the  belief  that  this  tra- 
dition relating  to  this  monarch  was  carried  into  England 
by  numerous  bodies  of  French  Masons  who  followed  in  the 
pathway  of  William  the  Gorman,  or  subsequently  arrived 
there. 

It  is  a  notable  fact  that  the  oldest  and  most  authentic 
document,  which  is  historical  of  the  year  1254,  as  well  as 
the  most  ancient  records  of  German  Masonry,  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  confessedly  drawn  up  from 
much  older  traditions,  neither  mention,  nor  in  the  remotest 
manner  indicate,  that  the  fraternity  of  Masons  was  put 
upon  a  substantial  basis  at  the  building  of  Solomon's  Tem- 
ple. Nor  is  the  faintest  allusion  made  to  a  period  prior  to 
the  age  of  Diocletian,  in  the  third  century.  It  is  impossi- 
ble to  presuppose  the  existence  of  such  legends  among  the 


Si  come  li  prudhommes  Ten  oi"  dire  de  pere  a  fils.  Boileau,  loc,  cit. 


ANTIQ  UITIES  OF  FREE  MA  S  ONR  Y.  181: 


French  and  Teutonic  mediaeval  Masons,  without  some  por- 
tions at  least,  and  in  some  shape,  however  intangible,  find- 
ing their  way  into  the  written  records  of  those  craftsmen. 
The  operative  Mason  of  the  Middle  Ages  in  France  and 
Germany  knew  nothing  of  a  Jewish  origin  of  his  craft. 
In  case  the  traditions  current  in  the  thirteenth  century,  or 
later,  had  pointed  back  to  the  time  of  Solomon,  in  prepar- 
ing the  regulations  for  corporate  government,  and  in  order 
to  obtain  valuable  exemptions,  the  prestige  of  the  Israel- 
ii sh  king  would  have  by  far  transcended  that  of  the 
holy  martyrs,  or  Charles  the  Hammer-Bearer !  On  the 
contrary,  the  most  striking  elements,  perhaps,  of  the  inter- 
nal polity  and  work  of  a  lodge  were  directly  derived  from 
nearer  sources,  although  equally  venerable,  than  those 
whose  streams  ascended  to  the  Jewish  temple  builders ; 
nor  were  the  initiatory  rites  and  emblems  the  entire  contri- 
bution of  Judaism.  In  this  connection  it  stands  forth  as 
highly  significant,  that  Halliwell's  Codex  makes  no  men- 
tion of  Masons  during  the  time  of  Solomon,  nor  does  that 
ancient  document  pretend  to  trace  Masonic  history  prior 
to  the  time  of  Athelstane  and  Prince  Edwin.  Evidently, 
the  compiler  simply  followed  tradition  touching  the  intro- 
duction of  Masonry  into  England  at  the  period  stated,  aa 
may  be  gleaned  from  the  versifier  himself : 

14  This  craft  came  into  England,  as  it  is  heard  said."  1 

No  effort  is  apparently  made  to  impress  the  reader  with 
an  idea  that  Masonic  history  is  being  unfolded  back  to  the 
time  of  Egyptian  kings  ;  for  the  chronicler  expressly 
asserts  his  intention  merely  to  narrate  the  origin  and  pro- 
gress of  geometric  science,  which  he  says  was  the  inven- 
tion of  Euclid : 


1  "  Yys  crafte  come  yn  to  England  as  y"  yode  say."   Halliwell  MSS.,  17 
Al,  folio  5. 
16 


182 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


"  The  clerk 1  Euclid  in  this  wise  it  found, 
This  craft  of  Geometry  in  Egypt  land ; " 

and  further : 

"  In  Egypt  land  he  taught  it  full  wide, 
In  divers  lands  on  every  side." 2 

The  manuscripts  subsequent,  in  point  of  time,  to 
Halliwell's,  have  added  largely  to  the  simple  and  naive 
narrative  of  this  ancient  English  chronicle.  From  such 
written  records  as  are  still  accessible,  it  would  seem  that 
their  several  authors  or  compilers  had  no  fixed  purpose  to 
trace  the  history  of  the  fraternity,  as  a  corporate  body  in 
England,  beyond  the  time  of  the  mythical  York  assembly 
under  Prince  Edwin  ;  while  the  traditions  existing  among 
the  craft  concerning  the  origin,  preservation,  and  perpetua- 
tion of  an  exact  science  are  also  detailed  with  zealous  and 
laudable  minuteness.  In  other  words,  the  legends  of 
Masonry  previous  to  Athelstane  are,  collectively,  a  mere 
compilation  of  the  traditional  history  of  geometry,  which 
was  accepted  without  question  by  the  mediaeval  operatives, 
and  which,  no  doubt,  in  its  essential  properties,  was  brought 
into  Europe  at  an  early  age,  either  by  the  Byzantine  corpo- 
rations or  introduced  among  the  ancient  Britons  through 
their  Roman  conquerors,  who,  it  appears,  numbered  colleges 
of  builders  among  the  legions.  Dallaway  says3  the  first 
notice  which  occurs  in  England  of  a  body  of  Roman  arti- 
ficers is  a  votive  tablet,  upon  which  a  college  of  operatives 
allude  to  the  dedication  of  a  temple  to  Neptune  and 
Minerva,  and  also  to  the  safety  of  Claudius  Caesar's  family. 
The  learned  antiquary,  Roger  Gale,  decided  this  stone  to 

1  From  cleric  or  priest  originally,  but  signifies  here  learned  or  wise,  because 
during  the  Middle  Ages  nearly  all  learning  was  possessed  by  ecclesiastics.  It 
is  used  in  this  sense  in  one  of  the  songs  in  Das  fcleine  Helden  Buck. 

a  Ye  clerke  Euclyde  on  yys  wyse  hyt  founde 
Yys  crafte  of  geometry  yn  Egypte  land  .  .  . 
In  Egypte  he  taughte  hyt  ful  wyde, 

In  divers  land  on  every  syde.  Halliwell,  Ibid.,  folio  5. 

*  Historical  Account  of  Master  and  Freemason,  p.  401. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  183 

be  the  earliest  memorial  of  the  Romans  hitherto  discovered 
in  Great  Britain.  From  this  it  may  therefore  be  gleaned 
that  in  the  time  of  Emperor  Claudius  Caesar  an  associated 
body  of  architects  was  established  in  England,  and  appa- 
rently much  of  the  knowledge  which  subsequently  ob- 
tained in  that  kingdom,  touching  the  early  history  of 
architectural  art,  was  taught  by  these  Roman  corporations. 
There  are,  however,  excellent  reasons  upon  which  to 
ground  the  belief  that  the  great  mass  of  information  con- 
cerning the  spread  of  geometric  science  was  derived  from 
Greek  artists,  and  when  the  gradual  merging  of  the  Byzan- 
tine associations  with  Germanic  guilds  had  been  effected, 
the  historic  and  traditional  details  of  art  were  preserved 
as  a  part  of  the  oral,  or  perhaps  written,  narrative  ex- 
planatory of  geometric  history,  rehearsed  to  the  neophyte 
with  the  initiatory  lessons  incident  to  the  degree.  There 
is  nothing  in  the  external  or  internal  constitutions  of  the 
fraternity  that  can  lead  to  an  assumption  that  the  Roman 
collegia  were  the  source  whence  Masonry,  either  directly 
or  indirectly,  obtained  its  lodge  appointments  or  ritualistic 
ceremonies.  ~No  vestige  admitting  of  such  interpretation 
appears  in  either  the  written  or  unwritten  records  of  the 
craft.  In  all  the  legends  of  Freemasonry,  the  line  of 
ascent  leads  with  unerring  accuracy  through  Grecian  cor- 
porations back  to  the  Orient ;  and  in  all  lodge  constituent 
elements  and  appointments,  the  track  is  broad  and  direct 
to  a  Gothic  origin.  So  far  as  the  traditional  history  of  the 
German  and  French  patron  saints  determines  the  institu- 
tion of  the  society,  it  is  referred  to  Diocletian's  time,  with 
a  strong  probability  that  this  legend  was  also  the  contribu- 
tion of  Eastern  artists.  Reference  has  been  made  to  the 
route  by  which  much  of  the  internal  or  esoteric  teachings 
of  Freemasonry  was  transmitted  to  the  mediaeval  Masonic 
guilds  ;  for  a  detailed  statement  of  the  argument  adduced, 
both  to  support  this  proposition  and  to  substantiate  the 
Teutonic  or  Norse  nature  of  lodge  work  and  government, 
the  reader  is  directed  to  the  Second  Part  of  this  treatise. 


184 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


We  here  terminate  the  first  portion  of  this  History.  If 
we  cast  our  eyes  backward  over  the  several  pathways 
travelled,  we  find,  amid  the  varied  circumstances  of  local 
and  national  life,  much  that  points  to  an  association  held 
in  check  and  regulated  by  secret  rules,  which  vitalized  the 
most  distant  and  distinct  branches.  These  points,  which 
scattered  bodies  of  mediaeval  Masons  present  in  common, 
are  not  the  result  of  accident  or  the  work  of  chance. 
Everywhere  we  have  seen,  or  shall  hereafter  see,  a  strange 
uniformity,  spreading  regularly  and  with  an  unalterable 
consistency,  through  the  ancient  Masonic  corporations  of 
Europe.  This  unity  could  not  have  preserved  an  uninter- 
rupted existence,  had  it  depended  upon  the  transient 
requirements  of  any  age  or  nation.  Other  guilds  and 
associations,  established  for  purposes  of  temporary  and 
local  interest,  have  long  since  passed  away.  Unnumbered 
corporations,  nurtured  into  vitality  by  the  troubled  times 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  whose  duration  was  the  result  of  fleet- 
ing necessity,  have  vanished,  while  the  mediaeval  guilds  of 
Masons  still  survive  in  speculative  Freemasonry.  With  a 
consistent  harmony,  the  formularies  of  internal  govern- 
ment, and  a  rigid  adherence  to  prescriptive  usage,  such  as 
guided  ancient  lodges  in  hewing  out  of  polished  stone  the 
elegant  designs  of  the  master  builder,  are  preserved  with 
jealous  vigilance  by  their  successors.  Speculative  Masonry 
has  perpetuated  intact  for  centuries  that  which  has  come 
down  from  the  very  twilight  of  time.  In  passing  through 
the  various  nationalities  which  have  successively  fallen  to 
decay,  this  brotherhood  has  survived,  and,  through  the  long 
line  of  ages,  continued  to  guard  the  relics  of  a  remote 
antiquity. 

It  is  the  design  of  the  subsequent  pages  to  note  with 
care  such  portions  of  Freemasonry  as  have  descended  un- 
impaired and  unchanged  from  Gothic  sources,  and  at  what 
probable  epoch  Judaistic  rites  began  to  be  introduced  into 
lodge  or  guildic  observances. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


Name  of  Freemason,  whence  Derived — Not  from  Unusual  Immuni- 
ties— Mediaeval  Lathomii — Early  use  of  word  Mason — Freema- 
son Traced  to  Gallic  Sources — Signifies  Brother  Craftsmen. 

DIVERSITY  of  opinion  exists  touching  the 
origin  of  the  name  Freemason.  The  majority 
of  writers  incline  to  the  belief  that  this  title 
of  Freemason  was  bestowed  upon  the  craft  on 
account  of  unlimited  exemptions,1  which,  it  is 
alleged,  were  conceded  the  fraternity  at  the 
hands  of  royalty,  or  powerful  protectors.  It  can, 
we  think,  be  easily  demonstrated  that  this  view  is 
not  well  grounded,  and,  moreover,  that  the  craft  of  Masons 
in  their  corporate  franchises  were  not  the  recipients  of  any 
supposed  universal  political  freedom2  which  would  entitle 
them  to  be  designated  as  free,  par  excellence,  as  contrasted 
with  the  immunities  of  other  guilds  or  societies  of  work- 
men. Nor  does  it  appear  that  this  corporation  of  opera- 
tives was  possessed  of  unusual  privileges  in  the  internal 
management  of  their  widespread  lodges,  because  this  free- 
dom was  not  only  shared,  but  frequently  exceeded,  by  con- 
temporaneous fraternities. 

The  earliest  approach  to  the  use  of  the  word  Freemason 

1  Hutchinson,  Spirit  of  Masonry,  p.  138,  says  they  assumed  this  appellation 
in  order  to  distinguish  them  from  ordinary  masons,  a  privilege  incident  to  a 
grant  to  this  corporation  by  the  city  of  London,  carrying  with  it  extraordinary 
freedom. 

2  Dallaway,  Historical  Account  of  Master  and  Freemason,  p.  425. 

187 


188 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


is  in  the  statute  of  24  Edward  II.,  of  the  year  1350,  which, 
similar  to  all  English  laws  of  that  epoch,  are  published  in 
the  French  language,  and  is  styled  Le  Statut  d' Artificers 
et  Servants.  In  the  third  chapter  of  this  enactment, 
regulating  the  price  of  wages,  the  following  reference  is 
made : 

Item.  —  Carpenters,1  masons,  and  tilers,  and  some  others, 
shall  receive  no  other  pay  than  that  fixed  by  the  law  of 


1346,  viz. : 

A  master  carpenter  3  den. 

Another  (joiner)  2  " 

Master  of  freestone  4  " 

Other  masons  ,....3  u 

Their  servants  1  " 

A  tiler2  3  " 

Their  knaves  


The  original  text  contains  the  words  "  mestre  de  franche 

1  During  the  Middle  Ages  a  close  union  existed  between  the  carpenters  and 
masons.  Marchese,  Vie  dei  Architetti,  Tomo  L,  p.  144.  In  a  return  made  by 
the  carpenters'  guild  of  Norwich,  established  in  1376,  mention  is  made  of 
Robert  of  Elyngham  and  other  Masons,  who,  in  conjunction  with  this  guild, 
agreed  to  share  the  expense  of  burning  tapers  before  an  altar  in  the  church. 
And  "besyden  all  these  ordinaunces,  Robert  of  Elyngham,  Masoun,and  others 
serteyn  Masouns  of  Norwich,  fynden  in  Criste's  Churche  at  Norwiche  twye 
torches  brennyngge  atte  heye  auter  as  it  is  by  for  seyd."  Smith,  English 
Guilds,  p.  39 ;  Anderson's  Constitutions,  p.  26. 

2  The  modern  signification  of  this  word  is  a  guard  or  sentinel,  and  applies 
to  an  officer  who  stands  with  a  sword  before  the  door  of  a  Masonic  lodge. 
To  give  an  exact  derivation  of  Tiler  or  Tyler  is  encompassed  with  much  diffi- 
culty and  uncertainty.  Krause,  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  I.,  Ab.  1,  p.  147,  translates 
it  as  u  Ziegeldecker,"  or  a  tile  coverer,  and  in  this  sense  it  seems  to  be  used 
above.  Perhaps  the  most  satisfactory  explanation  can  be  found  in  the  cor- 
ruption of  "  Tailleur  de  pierre,"  which,  by  an  English  tongue,  would  be 
pronounced  "  Tyler  de  peer,"  as  attested  by  the  phrase  "  franche  peer. " 
Whoever  was  designated  to  guard  the  Anglo-French  lodges  in  England,  could 
not  be  otherwise  than  a  "Tailleur  de  pierre,"  and  which,  to  strange  ears, 
would  be  sounded  Tyler  or  Tiler.  See  Boileau,  Reglemens  sur  les  Metiers  de 
Paris,  cap.  48,  where  the  expression  alluded  to  frequently  occurs.  Tile  cover- 
ers  had  their  own  guilds  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Toulman  Smith,  English 
Guilds,  p.  399. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


189 


peer,"  44  et  outre  Mason,"  "  et  leurs  servants."  The  literal 
signification  of  mestre  de  tranche  peer,  is  master  of  free- 
stone, that  is,  one  who  works  in  such  stone,  or  is  evidently 
used  here  to  distinguish  a  mason  adept  in  preparing  free- 
stone from  an  ordinary  rough-stone  mason. 

Caementarius  appears  to  have  been  the  earliest  form 
synonymous  with  mason,  and  is  used  as  early  as  the 
seventh  century  at  least.1  It  was  used  in  the  years  10772 
and  10783  to  designate  builders  of  the  class  under  consid- 
eration.  At  a  later  period,  1212,  caementarii  and  sculptores 
lapidum  liberorum,  —  cutters  of  freestones,  —  are  written  as 
identical  in  sense.  In  the  year  1217,  caementarius  signifies 
an  equivalent  for  massun.*  Numerous  indentures  of  the 
Middle  Ages  between  builders  and  employers,  make  use 
of  the  words  caementarius  and  lathomii  to  specify  masons. 

About  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century,  1396,  the  fol- 
lowing phraseology  occurs  :  Lathomos  vocatos  fremaceons,5 
which,  fairly  interpreted,  means  freemasons.  Lathomos, 
in  this  connection,  corresponds  to  a  hewer  of  stone,  and  is 
identical  in  signification  with  Gertnan  Steinmetz  and  the 
French  Tailleur  de  pierre,  or  stonecutters. 

The  earliest  authentic  and  direct  application  of  the  word 
"  mason,"6  to  particularize  a  body  of  artificers,  of  which  I 
am  aware,  is  to  be»  found  in  almost  obliterated  characters 

1  Caenientarios,  qui  lapidem  sibi  ecclesiam  juxta  Komanorum,  .  .  .  postula- 
vit,  etc.  Bedae,  Ecclesiastica  Historia  Gentis  Anglorum,  Lib.  V.,  cap.  22.  For 
further  authority,  see  Poole,  Eccles.  Archit.  of  England,  p.  99.  The  earliest 
mention  of  the  word  ashlar,  which  I  have  seen,  is  as  follows,  from  an  inden- 
ture dated  1389,  and  quoted  by  Poole,  Ibid.,  p.  384:  Erunt  de  puro  achiler 
et  plana  inciso,  tarn  exterius  quam  interius. 

2  Findel,  Geschichte  der  Freimaurerei,  p.  57,  Anm.  (1). 

3  "  The  church  of  St.  Lucien  at  Beauvais,  rebuilt  in  1078,  by  two  workmen, 
who,  in  an  ancient  obituary,  are  described  as  'caementarii,'  or  masons." 
Hawkins,  History  of  the  Origin  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  107. 

4  Findel,  ut  supra.  5  Ibid.,  loc.  tit. 

6  Krause,  Die  Drei  altesten  Kunslurkunden,  Bd.  II.,  Abt.  2,  p.  398,  et  seq., 
has  amassed  an  undigested  amount  of  information  touching  this  word.  See 
Du  Cange,  Glos.  Med.  et  Inf.  Lat.,  sub  vocibus,  Macio  Machio,  Macon  (Gallic). 


190 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


on  the  walls  of  Melrose  abbey,  and  cannot  be  later  than 
the  twelfth  century ;  and  the  next  and  undoubted  use  of  it 
occurs  in  Boileau's  Reglemens  sur  les  Metiers,  prepared  in  the 
year  1254,  where  these  artisans  are  denominated  "  macons," 
and  meant  to  signify  precisely  the  same  operative  as  "  Tail- 
leur  de  pierre."  The  deduction  from  the  foregoing  then, 
perhaps,  would  be  that  towards  the  termination  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  this  class  of  builders,  in  England,  was 
called  Freemasons. 

The  ordinance  of  1254,  which,  as  before  stated,  makes  no 
especial  reference  to  any  but  a  mason  and  cutters  of  stone, 
so  that,  in  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the  French 
craftsmen,  as  then  organized,  were  simply  "  macons," 
"tailleurs  de  pierre,"  who  correspond  to  the  mediaeval 
English  lathomii,  masons,  and  the  German  steinmetzen, 
all  of  which  possess  one  signification,  —  hewers  of  stone, 
of  a  higher  skill  than  an  uninitiated  operative.  The 
Norman-French  word  frernaceons,  warrants  the  assumption 
that  English  stonecutters  were  the  first  to  be  denominated 
Freemasons  ;  and,  according  to  Boileau's  Ordinances,  as 
hitherto  cited,  it  would  seem  that,  in  his  day,  the  craft 
was  not  known  by  any  other  name  than  tailleurs  de 
pierre,  macons,  precisely  as  the  German  masons  continued 
their  avocation  as  steinmetzen,  until  the  society  in  Ger- 
many finally  ceased  as  an  operative  body. 

The  name  Freemason,  thus  bestowed  upon  early  British 
stonecutters,  was  evidently  given  on  account  of  the  uni- 
versal custom  of  the  fraternity,  without  exception  in 
England,  and  to  some  extent  elsewhere  on  the  Continent 
and  in  France,  at  this  epoch,  to  call  each  other  brother, 
or,  in  Old  French,  frere  magon,  from  which  this  nomen- 
clature is  derived. 

The  Norman  conquest  introduced  the  French  language 
into  England,  to  the  temporary  seclusion  of  the  native 
idiom,  so  that,  when  the  English  Masons  were  incorpo- 
rated, the  Normans  had  indelibly  impressed  their  dialect 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


191 


upon  the  kingdom,  and  used  it  to  write  the  laws  and 
royal  charters.1  From  this  circumstance,  apparently,  the 
name  of  Frlre  Magon,  elided  by  corrupt  pronunciation,  has 
been  merged  and  made  to  reappear  in  the  modern  word 
Freemason.2 

That  it  was  a  custom  among  English  Masons,  at  an 
early  date,  to  address  each  other  as  "  brother,"  admits  of 
no  doubt.  Such  usage  is  carefully  enjoined  by  the  manu- 
script charges  in  the  following  quaint  and  naive  form : 
"  That  ye  one  another  call  brother  or  fellow,  and  by  no 
other  foul  name."3  Whether  this  custom  prevailed  out- 
side of  lodge  precincts  is  uncertain ;  but  it  seems  to  have 
obtained  among  the  mediaeval  Freemasons,  in  their  mutual 
Masonic  intercourse,  wheresoever  dispersed.  It  was  unques- 
tionably adhered  to,  rigidly,  by  the  operatives,  when  craft- 
work,  within  the  lodge,  was  being  performed,  because  the 
moment  a  visiting  brother  entered  the  portal  of  the  sacred 
conclave,  he  saluted  the  members  and  assembled  brethren 
with  endearing  words  of  fellowship  and  fraternal  regard.4 


1  Blackstone,  Commentaries  on  the  Laws  of  England,  Vol.  III.,  p.  318,  gives 
a  succinct  and  comprehensive  narrative  of  the  universal  application  of 
Norman-French  in  the  preparation  of  legal  and  other  documents.  In  the 
reign  of  Edward  III.,  an  act  of  Parliament  was  passed  requiring  the  records 
to  be  made  up  in  Latin,  but  extending  the  use  of  the  English  tongue  to  court 
practice.    See  infra,  chap,  xxxvii. 

2  It  might,  indeed,  be  made  the  subject  of  curious  speculation  as  to  how  far 
Freemasonry,  in  connection  with  the  word  frere,  depended  upon  the  old  Saxon 
"  Frith-borh,"  peace  or  frank  pledge,  for  its  name.  Frith-borh  was  the  en- 
rolment of  all  inhabitants  of  a  commercial  guild  for  maintenance  of  peace. 
See  Introduction  to  Smith's  English  Guilds,  p.  xxi.  Frith-macon,  or  massun, 
might,  with  much  propriety,  be  developed  into  Free-mason. 

3  Also,  you  shall  call  all  Masons  yor  fiellows  or  yor  brethren  and  noe  other 
names.  Lansdowne  MSS.,  Plut.  lxxv,  E.;  also,  Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Charges, 
p.  34. 

*  Gott  griisse  euch,  Gott  weyse  euch,  Gott  lone  euch,  euch  uebermeister.  Pal- 
lirer  und  euch  hubschen  gesellen.  Torgau,  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  v.  Yahre 
1462,  $  107 ;  Stieglitz,  Ueber  die  Kirche  der  h.  Kunigunde  zu  Rochlitz,  p.  73 ; 
Winzer,  Die  Deutschen  Bruderschaften  des  Mittelalters,  p.  71. 


192 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


This  practice  has  descended  to  the  present  time,  among 
other  ancient  observances  transmitted  to  speculative  Ma- 
sonry. The  constant  use,  by  the  Masons  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
in  England,  and  perhaps  elsewhere,  so  late  as  the  closing 
years  of  the  fourteenth  century,  of  the  word  brother,  or 
frere  in  French,  in  addressing  their  fellows,  ultimately 
caused  them  to  be  designated  as  "brother  or  freres  Masons," 
in  order  to  distinguish  them  from  ordinary  laborers,  who 
were  apparently  less  privileged,  and  not  bound  together 
by  such  strong  fraternal  ties.  When  it  is  considered  that, 
from  the  eleventh  until  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
the  majority  of  masons  or  architects  in  England  were 
French,  who  constantly  spoke  their  own  language, —  which, 
as  previously  stated,  was  the  legal  idiom  of  the  realm,  —  and 
were  closely  united  in  a  secret  organization,  whose  leading 
characteristic  was  its  intimate  brotherhood,  with  a  stand- 
ing ordinance  to  hail  each  other  as  "brother  "  or  "fellow," 
it  will,  we  think,  furnish  the  most  reasonable  explanation 
of  the  origin  of  Freemason.  To  assume  that  this  name 
originated  from  the  unquestioned  fact  that,  to  a  great 
degree,  the  mediaeval  Masons  worked  in  freestone,  presents 
a  chasm  which  no  elision  can  fill.  For  instance,  in  the 
statute 1  quoted,  a  master  is  described  as  mestre  de  franche 
peer.  This  is  the  only  direct  connection  in  which  these 
words  are  used,  and  signify,  not  a  freestone  mason,  as 
sometimes  asserted,2  but  a  master  of  freestone ;  and  no 
ingenuity  can  torture  this  expression  into  such  shape  as  to 
mean  Freemason. 

In  the  word  fremaceons,  used  in  the  year  1396,  there 
is  a  sufficient  indication  that  the  two  French  words,  frbre 
and  magon,  have  been  merged,  and  thus  elided  are,  fairly 
interpreted,  not  a  freestone  mason,  but  an  artificer,  regu- 
larly initiated  into  a  fraternity  recognized  by  law  —  in  a 
word,  a  brother  Mason.3 

1  24  Edward  III.,  A.  d.  1350,  entitled  Le  Statut  d?  Artificers  et  Servants. 
3  Among  others  Steinbrenner,  Origin  of  Masonry,  p.  111. 
5  Vide  infra,  chap,  xxxvii. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


Initiatory  Oaths  and  Lodge  Meetings  —  Obligation  of  Secrecy  — 
Ceremonies  in  Formal  Opening — Dedication  of  Lodges — Patron 
Saints  —  Places  of  Convening  the  Craft  —  Crypts  —  Hills  and 
Valleys  —  Skilled  Workmen  at  Master's  Command  —  Called  a 
"Nomadic  Race"  —  Monastic  Masons  —  Oblati  —  Masonic  Dress 
in  Middle  Ages. 

N  oath  of  secrecy  was  administered  to  all  initi- 
ates,1 and  their  secret  conclaves  were  held  at  cer- 
tain times  and  places.  After  the  candidate  had 
been  properly  instructed  in  the  elements  of  the 
craft,  the  old  manuscripts  inform  us,  then  one  of  the 
Seniors  or  Wardens  held  the  book,  or  holy-dome,  and  the 
initiate,  placing  his  hand  upon2  it,  took  upon  himself  a 

1  Paly,  Manual  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  211 ;  Dallaway,  Historical  Account 
of  Master  and  Freemason,  p.  407.  "  And  only  initiated  into  them  those  in- 
tended to  be  aggregated  into  their  body,  and  under  oaths  of  the  most  profound 
secrecy."  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  243. 

2  Lansdowne  MSS.,  ubi  supra  ;  Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Oliarges,  p.  34. 

A  good  trewe  oye  (oath)  he  most  yen  sware 
To  hys  Mayster  and  hys  felows  yt  been  yere 

To  keep  these  poyntes,  etc.  Halliwell,  17  Al,  Const.,  Art.  14. 

Other  guilds  were  oath-bound  besides  the  Masons,  but  the  penalties  for  a 
disclosure  of  corporation  secrets  were  limited  to  pecuniary  fines  or  wax 
amercements.  Smith,  English  Guilds,  pp.  92,  93,  65-76,  etc.  In  the  conclud- 
ing part  of  an  oath  administered  to  an  initiate  into  St.  Katherine  guild,  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  the  obligated  brother  is  directed  "  then  kys  the  Boke." 
Ibid.,  p.  189.  A  close  identity  existed  between  the  mediaeval  Freemasons  and 
the  secular  guilds  prior  to  1389.  For  instance,  it  is  ordered  that  no  one  shall 
"  bewreie  ye  conseil  of  yys  gilde  to  any  straunge  man."  Ibid.,  p.  95.  This  will 
17  N  193 


194 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


solemn  obligation  to  conceal  all  that  he  had  previously 
been  instructed  in,  and  that  he  would  endeavor  to  preserve 
the  charges  of  a  Mason  which  were  recited  to  him. 

How  exclusively  the  details  of  art  were  in  keeping  of 
these  Freemasons,  and  how  carefully  these  vows  were  kept, 
may  be  learned  from  the  grossly  inaccurate  copies  of  archi- 
tecture which  have  been  preserved  in  the  illuminated  manu- 
scripts of  the  Middle  Ages,  particularly  during  the  eleventh 
and  twelfth  centuries.1  Lodges  —  in  the  German  language 
Bau-hiitte — originally  signified  a  place  of  meeting,  and  per- 
haps lodging,2  for  Masters  and  Fellows ;  but  this  significa- 
tion soon  enlarged,  and  under  the  name  of  lodge  came  to 
be  understood  an  association  of  artists  and  workmen  who 
were  united  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  churches,  cathe- 
drals, and  other  edifices.3 

These  lodges,  originally,  were  convened  at  sunrise,  and 
the  Master  having  invested  himself  with  the  insignia  of 
office,  took  his  station  in  the  east,4  while  the  brethren 
grouped  before  him  in  the  form  of  a  semi-circle5  or  oblong 
square.    Prayer  was  an  essential  point  in  the  opening  of  a 


serve  as  a  specimen  how  rigidly  other  associated  bodies  insisted  on  an  un- 
qualified secrecy  of  chapter  mysteries.  In  Halliwell's  Constitutions,  Art.  3,  it 
is  enjoined : 

Ye  prentis  to  keep  his  master's  counseil  close, 
And  not  even  tell  hyt  in  ye  Logge. 

The  Lansdowne  and  York  MSS.  order,  in  precisely  similar  terms  as  contained 
in  the  returns  of  1389:  "That  ye  shall  well  and  truly  keep  the  council  of 
the  lodge."  Vide  Hughan,  Masonic  Charges,  pp.  34-39.  Der  Aufgenommene 
muszte  eidlich  geloben  die  Pflichten  eines  Gildebruders  und  die  Ordnungen 
der  Gesellschaft  wie  sie  in  den  Statuten  verzeichnet  waren  treulich  zu  erfullen. 
Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  irn  Mittelalter,  p.  118.  This  obligation  was  to  be 
sworn  under  the  light  of  a  taper,  super  candelam,  Stat.  Conv.  St.  Eric,  §  44, 
cited  by  Wilda,  ut  supra.  Vide  infra,  p.  317. 

1  Whoever  has  had  occasion  to  examine  the  drawings  of  that  period,  still 
preserved  on  parchment  in  the  libraries  of  Europe,  will  readily  recognize  the 
justice  of  this  statement. 

2  Vide  supra,  p.  91.  3  Scherr,  Deutsche  Cultur,  p.  161. 
*  Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Freimaurer,  p.  58.     5  Jeder,  Die  Allotrien,  p.  139. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


195 


lodge,  and  harmony,  while  assembled,  was  especially  in- 
sisted on  among  the  members.1  This  custom  of  invocation 
was  by  no  means  confined  to  the  Masonic  fraternity, 
although  Freemasonry,  being  under  the  general  super- 
vision of  the  church  at  its  inception,  imbibed  a  strong 
religious  spirit. 

In  obedience  to  the  prevailing  usage  of  the  Middle  Ages 
to  place  all  organizations  under  the  patronage  of  saints, 
Masonry  also  dedicated  its  lodges  to  a  variety  of  martyrs. 
German  Masons  dedicated  their  fraternity  to  the  holy 
crowned  saints,  as  before  adverted  to,2  and  the  Masonic 
brotherhood  in  Paris  declared  themselves  under  the  patron- 
age of  Saint  Blase.3 

At  a  very  early  age,  Saint  John  was  invoked  as  the 
patron  of  British  Masons.4  In  Italy,  the  fraternity  of 
painters  held  the  patronage  and  protection  of  the  invisible 
Saint  Luke  in  the  highest  esteem.5  This  corporation  of 
artists  incorporated  in  their  laws  that  no  work  should  be 
commenced  without  first  appealing  to  God  for  his  aid,6 — a 


1  Fallou,  Ibid.,  p.  58. 

2  Vide  supra,  p.  173 ;  also,  Proem,  Ordinances  of  1462,  1459. 

3  Monseigneur  Saint  Blesve  or  Blase.  Boileau,  Reglemens  sur  Metiers  de  Paris, 
cap.  48 ;  Depping,  note  (1),  op.  cit.,  says  the  patronage  of  this  saint  was  still 
recognized  by  the  Masons  in  1476.  No  custom  appears  to  have  been  better 
established  than  that  of  placing  guilds  under  the  protection  of  patron  saints. 
Toulman  Smith,  English  Guilds,  p.  168,  note  (*),  says  in  this  connection  : 
"  Among  the  records  of  at  least  six  hundred  early  English  guilds  that  have 
come  under  my  careful  review,  I  have  very  rarely  found  this  absence  save 
in  some  of  the  guild  merchants." 

*  On  the  ruined  walls  of  Melrose  abbey  is  the  following  prayer,  carved  by 
the  master  of  the  masons  who  constructed  the  edifice : 

"  I :  pray :  to :  God :  and :  Mary :  baith 
And :  sweet :  St. :  John :  keep :  this :  holy :  kirk  :  fra  :  skaith  :  " 

5  Derunsichtbare  Beschutzer  der  Malerei  ist  der  heilige  Lukas.  Von  Raumer, 
Geschichte  der  Hohenstaufen,  Bd.  VII.,  p.  503. 

6  Aller  Anfang  ist  zu  machen  mitt  Gott  und  gottlichen  Dingen  da  ohne 
Macht,  Wissen  und  Liebe,  nichts  vollbracbt  werden  kann.  Von  Raumer, 
loc.  cit.    Many  guilds  had  chaplains,  who  conducted  religious  services  an4 


196 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


practice  which,  as  we  have  previously  noted,  was  in  vogue 
among  the  operative  Masons  of  past  ages,  and  is  still 
adhered  to  in  modern  Freemasonry.  So  firmly  did  the 
foregoing  association  of  artists  adhere  to  this  regulation, 
that  the  distinguished  painter  architect,  Fra  Angelica, 
never  began  any  great  or  important  work  of  art  without 
first  invoking  the  assistance  and  inspiration  of  Deity.1 

After  prayer  at  the  opening  of  a  mediaeval  lodge  was 
finished,  each  workman  had  his  daily  labor  assigned  him, 
and  received  the  necessary  instruction  to  complete  the  work 
in  detail.  The  craft  again  assembled  at  close  of  day,  or  at 
sunset,  and  the  same  formal  arrangement  of  the  operatives, 
with  prayer,  was  repeated.  The  craft  then  received  their 
wages.2  Places  where  lodges  were  opened  seem  to  have 
varied  with  circumstances,  and  apparently  there  were  two 
classes  of  lodges,  one  of  which  was  the  ordinary  Bau-hutte 
of  the  German  stonecutter,  where  the  usual  lodge  work  and 
daily  labor  were  performed  under  the  scrutinizing  eye  of 
the  Master  or  his  Pallirer  ;3  and  the  other  where  initiatory 
rites  were  practised  upon  candidates. 

The  meetings  of  the  first  mentioned  lodges  were  gen- 
erally held  at  any  convenient  place  where  the  building  hut 
of  the  craftsmen  was  erected,  and  to  this  enclosure  the 
brethren  were  called  both  for  labor  and  refreshment. 
Without  going  into  details  touching  the  exterior  and 
internal  appointments  of  a  mediaeval  lodge,  it  will  suffice 
in  this  connection  to  say  that  the  Bau-hutte  were  regularly 
furnished  with  all  the  appliances  of  a  mechanical  trade, 
such,  for  instance,  as  benches,  working-tools,  etc.,  and  the 

prayer.  In  the  return  made  by  a  guild  in  1389,  the  following  appears: 
divinique  cultus  augmentum  ac  dicte  ecclesie  cathedralis  et  sustentationis 
duorum  capellanorum,  etc.    Smith,  ut  supra,  29;  also,  Ibid.,  p.  139. 

1  Non  arebbe  messo  mano  ai  pennelli  se  prima  non  avesse  fatto  orazione. 
Marchese,  Vie  dei  Architetli  et  Pittori,  Tomo  I.,  p.  306. 

2  Jeder,  Die  Allotrien,  p.  139. 

3  Winzer,  Die  Deutschen  Bruderschaften  des  Mittelalters,  p.  65 ;  Fallou,  Mys- 
terien  der  Freimaurer,  passim. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  197 


windows  of  the  lodge  were  provided  with  shutters,  which 
it  was  the  operatives'  duty  to  see  properly  closed  and 
securely  fastened.1  Here  it  was  that  labor  was  performed 
and  technical  work  done  during  the  day,  and  even  the 
builders'  huts  do  not  seem  to  have  been  always  so  com- 
pletely guarded  as  to  prevent  surprise.2 

The  question  now  arises,  where  were  the  rites  and  cere- 
monies of  initiation  celebrated  ?.  To  this  the  answer  can 
be  made  with  tolerable  historical  certainty.  An  investi- 
ture with  Masonic  secrets  was,  perhaps,  originally  conferred 
in  one  of  the  abbey  rooms,  near  which  the  cathedral  or 
other  sacred  edifice  was  being  erected,  until  the  super- 
structure had  so  far  advanced  as  to  cover  the  church  crypt, 
and  afforded  a  safe  asylum  for  the  craft  to  congregate  in,  for 
the  purpose  of  working  the  rites  appurtenant  to  the  several 
Masonic  degrees. 

It  has  long  been  traditional  among  the  ecclesiastics  of 
York  minster,  that  the  Freemasons  during  the  Middle 
Ages  convened  the  craft  for  secret  meetings  in  the  crypt 
of  that  grand  old  edifice.  To  this  day  the  astute  vergers 
reiterate  the  legend  of  centuries,  and  designate  Masons' 
marks  on  tiles  leading  to  subterranean  chambers.  Recent 
and  indefatigable  research  has  brought  to  light  an  ancient 
lodge  minute  book,3  dating  far  back  in  the  past  century. 
A  record  is  made  up  in  this  manuscript,  noting  the  last 


1  Were  die  fenster  bey  seiner  Bank  nicht  zuthut,  der  soil  geben  iii.,  Kr. 
allemal  zu  pusse.  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  vom  Y.  1462,  §  69 ;  Stieglitz,  Ueber 
die  Kirche  zu  Rochlilz,  p.  69. 

2  A  painting  in  the  Louvre,  representing  St.  Barbara  as  patron  saint  of  a 
cathedral  in  process  of  construction,  painted  by  Jean  Van  Eyck  about  the 
year  1437,  contains  a  builder's  lodge  roofed  over,  with  unenclosed  sides ;  within, 
the  masons  are  actively  engaged  with  hammer,  compass  and  square,  preparing 
material  to  be  worked  up  in  the  edifice  to  which  the  lodge  is  attached.  Around 
the  building  the  craft  are  systematically  at  work.  Gorling,  Gesehichte  der 
Mahkrei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  248,  etc.,  gives  a  wood-cut  illustration  of  the  above. 

3  For  a  view  of  this  unique  record,  I  am  indebted  to  William  Cowling,  Esq., 
through  whose  labors  the  same  was  unearthed. 

17* 


198 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


convocation  called  by  a  York  lodge,  and  described  as  a 
sacred  recess  opened  in  the  cathedral  crypt.  Among  other 
treasures  still  preserved  with  jealous  vigilance  by  the 
lodge  in  York,  is  a  venerable  painting  of  this  spacious  hall, 
formerly  used  by  the  fraternity,  which  is  represented  as 
decorated  with  Masonic  symbols.  These  sombre  vaults, 
too  gloomy  for  ordinary  mechanical  lodge  work,  were 
peculiarly  adapted  for  the  display  of  lights,  and  to  render 
initiatory  rites  solemn  and  impressive.  It  was  indeed  a 
sacred  place,  with  the  vast  enclosure  of  confined  space,  and 
massive  supporting  columns  encompassing  the  mystic  gloom 
of  side  aisles  and  heavy  arches  above  I1 

An  eminence,  or  high  hill,  of  itself  afforded  no  sufficient 
security  for  secret  ceremonies  against  the  approach  of  the 
uninitiated,  nor  were  the  lowest  valleys,  for  the  same 
reason,  satisfactory  places  to  confer  degrees.  The  notion 
that  ancient  Freemasons  usually  held  their  lodges  on  the 
highest  hills  and  in  deep  valleys,  is  no  doubt  traditionally 
correct,  because,  among  the  Northern  nations,  hills  and 
valleys  were  invested  with  especial  religious  veneration, 
and  for  this  reason  churches  were  erected  on  lofty  emi- 
nences by  early  Christian  evangelists  as  a  substitute  for 
those  dedicated  there  to  the  worship  of  heathen  divinities. 
Wherever  churches  were  being  constructed,  lodges  natu- 
rally met  and  performed  their  regular  work,  and  from  this 
fact  the  tradition  touching  such  gatherings  on  elevated 
places  has  descended  to  modern  Masonry.  To  this  pro- 
pensity of  the  Gothic  nations  to  erect  temples  upon  high 
places,  a  further  reference  will  be  made. 

These  Masonic  societies  which  held  their  existence — and 
in  no  other  way  could  they  have  preserved  it  —  by  the 
process  of  erecting  vast  edifices,  lasting  through  centuries, 

1  Fosbroke,  British  Monachism,  p.  205,  says  these  crypts  were  frequently  used 
"  for  clandestine  drinking  and  things  of  that  kind."  For  which  candid  ad- 
mission, the  clerical  antiquary  has  been  most  unmercifully  berated  by  Poole, 
Ecclesiastical  Architecture,  p.  150. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


199 


constituted,  like  the  mediaeval  universities  of  learning, 
small  states  within  regularly  organized  governments. 
Their  meetings,  as  before  remarked,  were  secret,  and  were 
held  in  lodges  where  the  busy  craftsman  plied  his  technical 
avocation,  and  practised  the  mystic  ceremonies  of  a  sym- 
bolical ritualism. 

When  any  large  building  was  in  contemplation,  the 
masons  removed  in  large  numbers  to  the  spot,1  and  hence 
they  have  been  described  as  a  "  nomadic  race."2  Every 
master  had  at  his  command  the  services  of  workmen  well 
acquainted  with  and  accustomed  to  the  working  of  his 
plans. 

These  operatives,  denominated  confreres  (freres-macons), 
or  associated  brother  masons,  no  doubt  accompanied  their 
master  from  place  to  place,  as  occasion  demanded,  and 
certainly  they  must  have  devoted  their  lives  to  such  work  : 
for  the  exquisite  chisellings  and  floriated  capitals,  with 
which  many  of  the  chapels  of  Europe  abound,  were  never 
produced  without  intense  and  zealous  application,  aided  by 
great  taste,  artistic  feeling,  and  long  practice.3  That  such 
workmen  did  anciently  exist  in  great  numbers,  is  suffi- 
ciently proven  by  the  works  of  art  which  they  have  left 
behind  them  as  monuments  of  their  skill.  It  is  probable 
that  the  masters  wrought  out  the  designs  in  conjunction 
with  powerful  and  munificent  ecclesiastics,  and,  as  pre- 
viously shown,  the  churchmen  of  those  ages  materially  aided 
in  successfully  prosecuting  the  plans. 

1  Paly,  Manual  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  211. 

2  Blunt,  History  of  the  Reformation,  p.  83,  in  adverting  to  the  universality  of 
the  Latin  language  during  the  Middle  Ages,  and  particularly  as  a  medium 
of  intercourse  between  distinct  nationalities,  says  :  "  And  Freemasons,  a  kind  of 
nomadic  race,  pitched  their  tents  wherever  they  found  occupation,  and  having 
reared  the  cathedral  or  church  with  admirable  art,  journeyed  on  in  search  of 
other  employers." 

3  Poole's  idea  of  the  "  rule  of  thumb, "  without  intelligent  skill  among  the 
mediaeval  masons,  must  provoke  a  smile  at  the  expense  of  the  clerical  histo- 
rian of  architectural  art.  Ecclesiastical  Architecture  in  England,  p.  118. 


200 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


When  the  society  of  Freemasons  passed  from  monastic 
control,  great  numbers  of  the  monks  continued  their  mem- 
bership with  the  lodges,  and  many  of  them,  as  Gun- 
delandus,  abbot  of  Lauresheim,  wielded  the  compass  and 
gavel  with  almost  as  much  utility  as  the  cross,1  and,  un- 
questionably, a  good  deal  of  actual  handiwork  was  done  by 
the  monastic  brethren  themselves.2  This  will,  in  a  measure, 
satisfactorily  explain  many  of  those  touches  of  satire,  in 
the  way  of  droll  and  ludicrous  portraiture,  visible  in 
European  churches,  and  seem  to  be  directly  pointed  against 
rival  clerical  sects.3  While  in  the  employ  of  these  religious 
bodies,  the  masons  frequently  made  journeys  from  one 
monastery  to  another,  and  these  detachments  were  usually 
under  the  guidance  of  a  monk  architect.  Like  other  guilds, 
they  travelled  well  armed.  In  the  centre  of  the  convoy 
was  a  pack-horse  or  mule,  which  carried  the  tools  and 
implements  of  the  workmen,  together  with  their  pro- 
visions. 

The  particular  class  of  laborers  who  seem  to  have 
assisted  the  masons  at  their  work,  were  called  oblati*  or 
those  consecrated  to  religious  service  among  the  Benedic- 
tines, after  having  undergone  the  usual  preliminary  proofs. 
The  duty  assigned  these  youths  was,  principally,  to  bring 
water,  carry  mortar,  stone,  and  sand,  and  to  attend  invalid 
workmen  in  the  conventual  infirmary.5 


1  Architectes  et  sculpteurs,  qui  semblables  au  moine  Gundelandus,  abbe  de 
Lauresheim,  tenaient  le  compas  et  le  maillet  avec  non  moins  d'autorite  que  la 
crosse.  Lacroix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  358. 

2  Paly,  Manual  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  212.  Dallaway,  Historical  Account 
of  Master  and  Freemason,  p.  418,  thinks  many  of  the  details  of  architectural 
plans  were  the  suggestion  of  ecclesiastics. 

3  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture,  p.  276. 

*  Du  Cange,  V.  Culati,  for  ample  discussion  and  information.  Also,  Fos- 
broke,  British  Monaehism,  p.  191. 

5  Heidelhoff,  Die  Eauhiitte  der  Mittelalter.  For  proofs  of  a  close  intimacy 
between  the  Benedictines  and  Freemasons,  see  Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Frei- 
maurer,  p.  243,  etc. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


201 


A  Masonic  dress  for  the  mediaeval  operative  was  care- 
fully prescribed,  and  consisted  of  a  short  tunic,  which,  in 
winter,  was  made  of  woollen  stuffs,  and  in  summer  of 
linen.  This  garment  was  fastened  around  the  waist  by  a 
girdle,  from  which  sometimes  hung  a  small  satchel,  and 
when  travelling,  perhaps  a  sword.  This  tunic  seems  to 
have  preserved  an  existence  from  the  eleventh  century 
down  at  least  to  the  time  of  Van  Eyck,  in  the  year  1437. 
Craftsmen  at  large  covered  their  heads  with  a  tight-fitting 
scull-cap  without  a  visor ;  close-cut  breeches  completed  the 
Masonic  attire. 

In  the  painting  of  the  year  noted,  by  Jean  Van  Eyck, 
preserved  in  the  Louvre,  delineating  the  erection  of  a 
Gothic  tower  by  the  Masons,  and  from  which  the  descrip- 
tions above  were  taken  mainly,  these  peculiarities  of  dress 
prominently  appear.1    Two  of  the  operatives,  who  are 


1  Vide  Gorling,  Geschichte  der  Mahlerei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  248,  etc.  Uniformity  of 
dress  was  by  no  means  restricted  to  Freemasons.  Nearly  every  class  of  civil 
society  was  distinguished  by  peculiarities  of  attire.  All  guilds  prescribed 
certain  suits  or  livery  to  be  worn  by  members  when  present  at  the  meetings. 
The  Saddlers'  and  Spurriers'  Guild  of  Norwich,  established  in  1385,  ordered 
that  "  all  ye  brethern  and  system  hav  a  ly vere  of  sute  to  kennen  ye  bretheren 
an  systeryn  and  for  no  oyer  enchesoun."  Toulman  Smith,  English  Guilds,  p. 
43.  A  curious  regulation  of  St.  Edmund's  Guild,  Bishops  Lynn,  enacts: 
"  Noman  ne  come  in  time  of  drinke  beforn  ye  alderman  and  ye  gild  breth- 
ern in  tabbard,  in  cloke,  ne  barlege,  ne  barfoote,"  under  a  penalty  of  Id. 
Smith,  Ibid.,  p.  95.  This  ordinance  was  strenuously  insisted  on  by  all  guilds 
or  sworn  brotherhoods,  in  order  to  distinguish  the  members.  In  the  year 
1326,  an  edict  was  issued  by  an  ecclesiastical  council  against  these  conjurationes 
or  societies  united  by  oaths,  and,  among  other  charges,  it  was  alleged  that  the 
members  of  these  organizations  were  uniformly  attired :  et  interdum  se  omnes 
vesti  consimile  inducentes.  Condi.  Vaurensi.,  Tome  XX.,  p.  857.  Also,  Wilda, 
Das  Gilden  Wesen  im  Mittelalter,  pp.  52-224.  Mediaeval  minstrels  were  also 
distinguished  by  a  peculiar  costume.  Strutt,  Sports  and  Pastimes,  pp.  189,  190. 
Percy,  Reliques  of  Ancient  Poetry,  note  v.  3.  It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing 
references  that  guilds  and  professions  assumed  a  certain  style  or  characteristic 
of  dress,  and,  in  this  respect,  were  closely  followed  by  the  Freemasons,  who 
adopted  one  best  suited  to  the  necessities  of  their  vocation,  a  portion  of  which 
—  the  apron  —  is  still  worn. 


202 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


evidently  directing  the  labors  of  the  craft,  stand  forth  as 
noticeable  exceptions  in  style  of  costume.  Each  of  the 
figures  is  clothed  with  a  long  gown,  reaching  to  the  knees, 
tightly  bound  about  the  middle,  with  a  heavy  turban  on 
his  head.  These  are  either  a  Master  or  Pallirer  (Warden), 
in  charge  of  the  work.  ]STo  unchangeable  usage  touching 
the  cap  or  hat  for  the  fraternity,  it  is  believed,  prevailed 
exclusively. 

An  engraving,  copied  from  an  ancient  painting,  prefaces 
Stieglitz's1  edition  of  the  Torgau  ordinance,  in  which  the 
three  crowned  martyrs  are  illustrated  as  clothed  in  tunics 
opening  in  front.  Two  of  the  saints  have  covering  for 
the  head  :  one  is  a  close  fitting,  unvisored  cap,  loosely  tied 
with  straps  in  front,  which  are  evidently  designed  to 
adjust  it  to  a  proper  size.  I  believe  this  to  have  been,  so 
to  speak,  the  regulation  cap.  The  other  figure  has  merely 
a  hat,  with  a  long  sloping  visor  in  front,  and  the  back 
portion  turned  up  from  the  base  of  the  eye. 


1  Ueber  die  Kirche  der  heiligen  Kimigunde  zu  Rochiitz. 


CHAPTEE  XX. 


Building  Corporations  Eagerly  Joined  —  Powers  of  Internal 
Government  —  The  Members  are  Armed  —  Guilds  Assimilate 
to  Church  Discipline  —  Right  of  Corporate  Burial  —  Qualifi- 
cations of  Membership  —  Candidate  must  be  Possessed  of  Intel- 
ligence and  Property  —  Degrees  among  Freemasons  —  The 
Apprentices  —  Craftsman  or  Companion  —  Duration  of  an 
Apprenticeship  —  Initiate  must  Swear  to  Preserve  Land- 
marks. 

ROM  the  valuable  privileges  accorded  to  mediaeval 
guilds,  it  is  reasonable  to  infer  that  admission  to 
the  Masonic  corporation  was  not  unattended 
with  conditions  more  or  less  difficult  for  candi- 
dates. At  an  early  age  in  German  history,  these  brother- 
hoods or  craft  guilds  had  widely  extended,  and  each 
society,  having  its  existence  recognized  by  municipal 
authority,  was  possessed  substantially  of  identical  powers 
of  internal  government. 

All  laws,  rules,  and  regulations  affecting  these  organic 
bodies,  whether  commercial  or  mechanical,  were  very  early 
digested,  and  constituted  a  large  portion  of  the  private 
laws  of  the  empire.1    To  such  extent  did  these  corpora- 

1  Usually  designated  as  "  Zunftordnungen,"  or  "  Innungsgesetzen,"  and  com- 
piled, probably,  near  the  commencement  of  the  thirteenth  century.  See  Fr. 
Schulte,  Lehrbuch  der  Deutschen  Reichs-und-Rechtsgeschichte,  p.  127.  Whether 
the  laws  regulating  English  guilds  were  regularly  enrolled  upon  the  statute- 
book,  or  simply  developed  from  immemorial  usage,  is  uncertain.  Wilda,  Das 
Gild.Wesen  im  Mittelalter,  p.  376,  cites  the  statute  of  a  guild  enacted  about  the 
year  1283.    For  what  purpose  the  order  of  Parliament  in  1389  was  issued  to 

203 


204 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


tions  increase  about  the  thirteenth  century,  that  they  were 
sufficiently  powerful  to  defy  imperial  authority.1  Not  un- 
frequently  it  happened  that  these  societies,  by  the  terms  of 
their  charters,  were  allowed  to  arm  the  members  for  defence, 
and  went  out  to  battle  with  their  masters  in  command.2 

In  their  general  scope  and  design,  these  guilds  almost 
universally  had  the  outline  of  a  church  brotherhood  — 
the  duty  of  caring  for  their  sick  and  infirm  being  strongly 
impressed  upon  each  member  of  the  fraternity.  Society 
funds  were  used  to  bury  deceased  brethren,  and  on  such 
occasions  the  funeral  procession  was  terminated  by  a 
banquet.3 

While  on  this  point,  it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to 
mention  the  fact  that,  in  Germany,  guilds  were  estab- 
lished whose  express  and  only  purpose  was  the  humane 
treatment  of  those  afflicted  with  leprosy  —  a  disease 
alleged  to  have  been  introduced  into  Europe  from  the 
East  by  Crusaders.4  That  membership  in  organizations, 
privileged  to  regulate  their  affairs  independent  of  royal 
or  ecclesiastical  interposition,  was  highly  prized,  may  be 
readily  inferred,  and  that  such  admission  was  eagerly 
sought  will  admit  of  little  doubt,  when  it  is  stated  that 
whenever  a  brother,  in  certain  instances,  was  summoned 
before  the  civil  judiciary,  all  the  members  of  his  guild 
accompanied  him,  and  none  but  those  connected  with  the 


the  guilds  in  England  for  a  certified  return  of  their  condition,  does  not  appear ; 
but  the  earliest  governmental  legislation  touching  guilds,  including  the  Masons, 
is  the  ordinance  of  the  year  1254,  under  Louis  XI.  of  France. 

1  By  act  of  Parliament,  in  the  thirty-seventh  year  of  Henry  VIII.'s  reign, 
the  entire  estate  of  craft  guilds  was  confiscated.  Brentano,  Essay  on  the 
Origin  and  Development  of  Guilds,  clxiii. 

2  Ungewitter,  Geschichte  des  Handels  und  der  Industrie,  p.  234. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  233.  With  rare  exceptions,  the  guildic  returns  collected  by 
Smith,  in  his  English  Guilds,  show  the  obligatory  relation  of  the  living  towards 
the  burial  of  deceased  brothers,  and  that  under  a  penalty.  Starb  er,  geleiteten 
ihn  alle  zu  Grabe,  brachte  Opfer,  etc.    Wilda,  Gilden  Wesev,  p.  123. 

*  Scherr,  Deutsche  Cultur,  p.  212. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  205 


brotherhood  were  fully  competent  witnesses.  In  such 
cases,  the  oath  of  the  accused  was  valued  as  three  to  one 
of  a  stranger.1 

What  qualifications  were  necessary  for  initiation  or 
membership,  cannot  be  definitely  mentioned.  In  many 
guilds  of  the  Middle  Ages,  an  initiation  fee  was  required,2 
and  in  others  the  applicant  must  exhibit  satisfactory  evi- 
dence of  his  knowledge  and  capacity  to  acquire  the  craft. 
From  a  digest  of  laws,  which  Boileau  compiled  in  the 
year  1254,  it  would  seem  that  a  property  qualification  for 
membership  in  these  close  corporations  was  requisite.3 

So  far  as  relates  to  the  Masonic  brotherhood,  the  old 
regulations  which  have  descended  to  us  sufficiently  attest 
that  the  requirements  still  in  vogue  were  substantially  the 
same  among  the  mediaeval  Masons.  To  be  received  as  an 
apprentice,  it  was  absolutely  essential  that  the  applicant 
should  be  free-born,  and  of  a  prescribed  age.  What  was 
the  minimum  of  years  is  uncertain.  It  is,  at  all  events, 
very  clear  that  the  proposed  apprentice  need  not  be  one 
and  twenty  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  at  any  reasonable  time 
during  his  minority  he  was  eligible  to  the  degree  of  an 
Entered  Apprentice.4  That  this  was  a  degree  by  itself,  and 
the  first  towards  advancement,  can,  I  think,  admit  of  but 

1  Dahlmann,  Geschichte  von  Ddnnemark.  Bd.  III.,  p.  13. 

2  In  English  fraternities,  the  price  of  admission  varied.  St.  Katherine's 
Guild  ordained,  "  Quat  brothyr  or  systyr  schal  comyn  into  this  fraternite  he 
shal  payen  to  the  sustentacion  of  this  guide  v8."  Toulman  Smith,  English 
Guilds,  p.  67.  Others  usually  demanded  wax  payments.  The  early  Teutonic 
or  Scandinavian  associations  exacted  an  entrance  fee.  Wilda,  ut  supra,  pp. 
108-216.  Oftentimes  the  initiate  was  obliged  to  pay  money  and  a  certain 
quantity  of  wax :  "  4  Mark  und  1  Pfund  Wachs."  Ibid.,  p.  274 ;  also,  Lacroix, 
Les  Moeurs  et  Usages  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  316 ;  Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer 
wahren  Bedeutung,  p.  220  ;  and,  Fr.  Von  Raumer,  Geschichte  der  Hohenstaufen, 
Bd.  V.,  p.  311. 

3  Pour  qu'il  sache  fere  le  mestier  et  il  ait  de  coi.  Boileau,  Reglemens  sur 
Metiers. 

*  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen,  p.  274,  says,  in  some  of  these  corporations  the 
candidates  were  accepted  if  fifteen  years  old. 
18 


206 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


little  controversy,  and,  as  such,  existed  in  the  contempla- 
tion of  early  Masons.  The  Germans  designated  this  class 
of  workmen  as  "  Diener,"  or  servants ;  the  French  stone- 
cutters called  them  "  Apprentis "  (learners),  or,  as  the 
English  craftsmen  learned  it  from  their  Gallic  brethren, 
"  Apprentices."  "We  have  already  referred  to  the  three 
distinct  classes  of  operatives  into  which  Saint  Eloi,  at  that 
distant  epoch,  divided  the  jewellers,  and  equally  denned 
grades  or  degrees  existed  during  the  Middle  Ages  among 
the  fraternity  of  masons  and  carpenters.  The  young  work- 
man ceased  to  be  an  apprentice  on  attaining  the  degree 
of  Fellow ;  and  this  advancement  carried  with  it  higher 
powers,  additional  preferment,  and  greater  privileges,  as 
we  shall  presently  discover,  than  the  preceding  degree, 
and,  in  like  manner,  the  Fellow-craftsman  terminated 
that  connection  upon  becoming  a  Master.  How  far  appren- 
tices were  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  the  order  at  that 
time  is,  at  the  present  day,  involved  in  obscurity ;  that 
they  received  sufficient  information  to  gain  admittance 
into  lodges  of  Apprentices  is  beyond  question,  and  that 
such  lodges  were  opened,  to  which  these  operatives  were 
called,  is  equally  true.  All  instruction  essential  to  the 
apprentice  in  order  to  become  a  Fellow  was  imparted  him, 
together  with  such  grips  and  passwords  as  prevented  im- 
position from  the  uninitiated.  He  must  also  have  received 
a  thorough  drilling  in  the  elements  of  geometric  science, 
and  an  explanation  of  the  symbolic  appliances  necessary 
to  his  degree. 

It  was  an  unvarying  qualification,  and  one  not  restricted 
to  Masonic  fraternities,  that  the  candidate  should  be  of 
sound  body  and  mind,  and  unqualifiedly  of  legitimate 
parentage.  This  last  stipulation  was  insisted  upon,  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  by  the  French  stonecutters,1  under  pen- 
alty of  a  heavy  fine.2 

1  Tant  seulement  nez  de  loial  marriage.  Boileau,  Livre  des  Metiers  de  Paris, 
cap.  48. 

2  Halliwell's  MSS.,  Art.  4  and  5,  is  explicit  upon  these  points : 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


207 


An  apprenticeship  varied  ;  in  some  trades  it  endured  for 
ten  years,  in  others,  five  or  six.  It  may  be  said  here,  to 
the  honor  of  the  law-making  powers  of  that  period,  that 
statutes  regulating  trades  were  so  framed  as  to  make 
thoroughly  skilled  workmen,  and  no  advancement  was 
permitted  until  apprentices  had  exhibited  suitable  pro- 
ficiency1 in  the  details  of  work  assigned  them.  French 
masters  were  allowed  one  apprentice  for  the  definite  term 
of  six  years.2  At  the  end  of  the  fifth  year  they  were  per- 
mitted to  accept  another.  Under  specific  circumstances, 
the  Master  of  Royal  Masons  in  Paris  was  indulged  the 
privilege  of  two  workmen  of  this  degree.  An  exception 
in  favor  of  masters'  sons,  curtailing  apprenticeship,  if  of 
legitimate  birth,3  was  also  conceded.  Any  infringement 
upon  the  regulations  cited  was  punished  by  a  fine,  which 
should  be  immediately  paid  to  the  chapel  of  Saint  Blase, 
who,  as  already  noted,  was  the  patron  saint  of  French 
masons. 

The  prevailing  law  affecting  the  duration  of  apprentice- 


"  Yat  he  no  bondsman  prentys  make." 

"  So  yat  ye  prentys  be  of  lawful  blod."   Fol.  7. 

Saint  Canute's  Guild,  one  of  the  oldest  Scandinavian  fraternities,  made  it  a 
condition  precedent  to  initiation  that  the  applicant  should  be  without  reproach : 
"  idonea  sit  persona  et  sine  infamia."  De  Personis  Intrantibus,  in  Wilda,  Gil- 
den  Wesen  im  Mittelalter,  p.  117.  This,  according  to  Wilda,  loc.  cit.,  was  the 
unvarying  requirement  of  membership,  confirmed  by  Toulman  Smith,  English 
Guilds,  pp.  190-229.  See  Winzer,  Die  Deutschen  Bruderschaften  des  Mittelalters, 
p.  28,  and  Ordnung  der  Strassburger  Steinmetzen,  in  Krause,  Die  Drei  celtesten 
Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  II..  Ab.  1,  p.  284. 

1  This,  during  the  Middle  Ages,  was  by  no  means  an  empty  formulary,  but 
rigidly  insisted  upon,  that  an  Apprentice  or  Companion  (Fellow)  should  execute 
such  work  as  would  entitle  him  to  advancement.  Lorsque  l'apprenti  ou  le 
compagnon  sollicitait  la  maitrise,  Pun  et  1' autre  prenaient  le  titre  d' aspirants 
et  des  lors  ils  se  trouvaient  soumis  a  des  examens  succesif.  Lacroix,  Les 
Moenrs  et  Usages  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  316.  Such  aspirant  was  required  to  ex- 
hibit his  proficiency  by  producing  a  masterpiece  of  the  craft  which  he  fol- 
lowed. Ibid. 

2  Boileau,  Reglemens  sur  les  Metiers  de  Paris,  cap.  48.  3  Ibid, 


208 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


ship  among  the  Germans,  directed1  that  no  apprentice 
(Diener)  should  be  accepted  for  a  less  period  than  five 
years,  and  in  this  respect  the  ordinances  drawn  up  at 
Torgau,2  in  1462,  perfectly  agree.  Notwithstanding  this 
limitation  was  universal  in  Germany  so  early  as  1459  and 
1462,  yet,  in  the  year  1518,  Jacob  von  Schweinfurt,3  desir- 
ing to  render  the  Saxon  lodges  independent  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Magdeburg  and  Strassburg,  enunciated  the  here- 
tic doctrine  that  four  years  was  the  ancient  term  for  an 
apprenticeship.  This  difficulty  was  finally  adjusted  be- 
tween the  conflicting  bodies,  and  the  original  five  years 
were  again  accepted  by  the  master  builders  who  had 
acknowledged  the  pretensions  of  Schweinfurt. 

In  England  a  more  extended  duration  of  service  was 
demanded  of  an  apprentice  mason,  namely,  seven  years,4 
and  with  this  regulation  the  statute  law  of  England  en- 
tirely coincided.5  The  German  Masons  conscientiously 
attended  to  the  principles  which  underlaid  their  society ; 
and,  so  great  was  the  respect  maintained  towards  the 
term  of  apprenticeship,  that  the  confraternity  of  sculptors, 
whose  limit  of  servitude  was  three  years,  was  relentlessly 
excluded  from  a  participation  in  the  stonecutters'  lodges, 
nor  were  they  permitted  to  be  associated  with  them  in 
mutual  handiwork,  as  previously.6  According  to  Stieg- 
litz,7  this  antipathy  was  perpetuated  down  to  a  recent 


1  Ordnung  der  Strassburger  Haupthiitte  v.  Yahre  1459 ;  Krause,  Die  Drei  cel- 
testen  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  II.,  Ab.  1,  p.  284. 

2  Ordnung  der  Steinmelzen,  Anno  1462. 

3  Stieglitz,  Ue&er  die  Kirche  und  Steinmetz-Hutte  zu  Rochlitz,  p.  15. 

*  All  the  English  manuscripts,  I  believe,  are  identical  in  this  particular. 

5  "  To  exercise  a  trade  in  any  town,  without  having  previously  served  as  an 
apprentice  for  seven  years  ....  is  punished  by  statute,  5  Elizabeth,  c.  4,  with 
forfeiture  of  forty  shillings  by  the  month."  Blackstone,  Commentaries  on  the 
Laws  of  England,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  160. 

6  Stieglitz,  Ueber  die  Steinmetz-Hutte  zu  Rochlitz,  p.  25. 

7  Ibid.  By  the  Strassburg  regulation,  an  applicant,  who  had  served  a  legal 
term  of  years  with  unprivileged  masons, —  murer,  maurer,  perhaps  bricklayers, 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  209 


date  in  Germany ;  and,  even  at  the  time  he  wrote  (1829), 
both  corporations,  still  clinging  to  the  shadow  of  organ- 
ized bodies,  failed  to  fraternize. 

When  the  term  of  apprenticeship  had  expired,1  the 
craftsman  was  entitled  to  ask  and  receive  advancement  to 
the  degree  of  Fellow,  or  Companion,2  which  grade  in  the 
line  of  promotion  seems  to  have  been  exclusively  recognized 
by  the  mediaeval  Masons  and  their  associates,  the  carpen- 
ters.3 In  the  regulations  of  1254,  it  is  ordered  as  follows  :4 
The  master  with  whom  the  apprentice  has  served  the 
requisite  time,  shall  go  before  the  Master  of  Masons  and 
testify  that  his  artisan  has  well  and  truly  fulfilled  his 
term.  Whereupon  the  General  Master,  who  has  control  of 
the  craft,  shall  cause  the  apprentice  to  swear  upon  the 
Scriptures5  that  he  will  not  deviate  from  the  established 
usages  and  customs  of  the  fraternity,  but  maintain  them 
for  all  time.  It  does  not,  however,  appear  whether  or  not 
'  the  French  apprentice  passed  directly  to  the  degree  of 
Master,  or  whether,  upon  obligating  himself  in  the  pre- 

—  and  desired  to  be  instructed  in  true  masonic  art,  was  compelled  to  apprentice 
himself  in  order  to  complete  the  necessary  term  of  years.  Vide  Krause,  Die 
Drei  adtesten  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  II.,  Ab.  1,  p.  285. 

1  The  lapse  of  time  now  required  in  modern  Freemasonry  to  intervene 
between  degrees  has  so  obviously  descended  from  the  above  noted  custom  as  to 
render  comment  unnecessary.  Additional  proof  may  be  found  in  the  limi- 
tation as  established  by  the  Grand  Orient  of  France,  at  the  close  of  the  last 
century.  No  Apprentice  could  be  advanced  to  the  grade  of  Fellow  before 
attaining  to  twenty-three  years,  nor  to  that  of  a  Master  till  he  was  twenty-five, 
and  an  interval  of  three  and  a  half  months  must  elapse  between  the  two  last 
degrees.  Regulateur  du  Magon,  anno  1801 ;  p.  4,  Grade  du  Compag.,  and  p.  3, 
Gr.  du  Ma'itre. 

2  Sous  le  nom  de  gargons  ou  compagnons  du  devoir,  les  compagnons,  quoique 
relevant  aussi  de  la  communaute  du  metier  auquel  ils  appartenaient,  compo- 
saient  egalement  des  affiliations  distinctes.  Lacroix,  Les  Moeurs  et  Usages  au 
Moyen  Age,  p.  323. 

3  Le  surnom  (garcon  ou  compagnon)  fut  d'abord  exclusivement  applique 
aux  charpentiers  et  aux  macons.  Ibid.,  loc.  cit.  This  dictum,  from  so  illus- 
trious an  antiquary  as  Lacroix,  should  be  final. 

4  Boileau,  Les  Metiers  de  Paris,  cap.  48. 

5  Le  mestrier  doit  fere  jurer  a  l'apprentis  seur  sains.  Ibid. 

18*     .  O 


210  THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


scribed  form,  he  became  a  Fellow,  and  remained  in  that 
position  until,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  craft,  he 
was  advanced  to  a  Mastership.  The  latter  opinion  would 
seem  to  be  the  more  accurate  one,  as  the  context  of  this 
venerable  document  fairly  warrants  such  assumption.  For 
instance,  the  Master  was  specifically  sworn  to  preserve  the 
trade  with  fidelity  and  zeal,  and  in  strict  accordance  with 
ancient  landmarks  ;  and  in  case  he  should  be  led  to  suspect 
anything  detrimental  to  the  fraternity,  it  was  his  duty  to 
reveal  it  at  once  to  the  General  Master. 

English  apprentices,  upon  the  advancement  to  the  degree 
of  Fellow,  took  the  prescribed  oath  upon  the  Scriptures  or 
holy-dome,  which  were  held  by  a  senior  (warden).1 

It  is  uncertain  how  long  the  obligated  candidate  re- 
mained a  Fellow,2  but  it  is  inferable  that  when  initiated 
into  the  secrets  of  this  degree,  he  received  the  essential 
parts  of  the  mystic  rites  of  the  brotherhood,  and  the  fullest 
details  of  architectural  art.  Whenever  circumstances  per- 
mitted him  to  assume  the  superintendence  of  masons,  then 
the  final  grade  of  Master  was  conferred  upon  him.  He 
was  also  instructed  in  the  powers  and  duties  incident  to 
that  station,  together  with  the  secret  symbols  which  con- 
stituted the  groundwork  of  his  authority. 

All  the  mystical  and  geometrical  secrets  of  Freemasonry 
were  certainly  given  in  this  degree,  so  that  when  the 
Fellow-craftsman  was  appointed  or  selected  to  direct  a 
lodge  of  builders,  he  was  instructed  in  nothing  further, 
with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  the  emblems  incident  to  a 
Master's  power  and  the  legend  of  the  builder. 

1  Lansdowne  MSS. 

2  The  custom  in  the  vast  majority  of  craft  guilds,  was  for  a  Fellow  who  desired 
to  become  a  Master,  to  prepare  an  unexeeptionably  fine  piece  of  his  handicraft. 
This  was  produced  before  a  syndic  of  sworn  tradesmen,  who,  after  a  lively  dis- 
cussion, decided  upon  the  work  and  the  Fellow's  capacity,  and  if  favorable,  he 
was  obliged  to  take  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  king,  etc.  Lacroix,  Les 
Moeurs  et  Usages  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  316.  There  was  a  sworn  syndicate  in  Paris, 
in  1254,  of  masons  and  carpenters,  no  doubt  for  this  very  purpose.  Boileau, 
Reglemens  sur  Metiers,  cap.  cxii. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Fellow-craftsmen  may  Travel  and  have  a  Mark  —  Preliminary 
Arrangements  for  Initiation —  Burlesque  Ritualism  —  Prepara- 
tion for  the  Degree  —  Grip  and  Password  Conferred  —  White 
Gloves  and  the  Banquet  —  Mediaeval  Lodge  :  how  Entered  by  a 
Travelling  Brother  —  The  Warden,  or  Master,  Wears  a  Hat — 
Masonic  Greeting  —  Especial  Privileges  of  a  Wandering  Com- 
panion —  To  be  Helped  and  Receive  Support  —  Cry  for  Assist- 
ance—  The  Secrets  of  Ancient  Freemasons  —  Moral  Principles 
and  Perfect  Mechanical  Skill  —  Liberal  Arts  and  Sciences  — 
Masons  shall  Assist  each  other  —  The  Master's  Prerogatives 
-Temperate  Habits  Inculcated — Christian  Influence  over 
the  Fraternity  —  A  Warden's  Duties  in  the  Master's  Absence 
—  His  Oath  of  Office  on  a  Square  and  Gauge  —  Freemasons: 
how  Organized  when  at  Work  —  System  of  a  Craftsman's 
Labor. 

HE  apprentice  having  honorably  terminated,  and 
with  conceded  proficiency,  the  term  of  years 
during  which  he  was  held  subject  to  his  master's 
control,  he  was  entitled  to  be  received  and  recog- 
nized as  a  Fellow-craft  Mason.1  This  degree  carried  with 
it  immunities  and  privileges  which  belonged  in  no  wise  to 
the  former.  As  a  Fellow  or  Companion,  the  operative  was 
at  liberty  to  wander  whither  he  pleased  in  search  of  work. 
This  facility  was  denied  the  apprentice,  unless  the  master 
were  unable  to  furnish  him  with  employment ;  in  that  case 

1  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  zu  Torgau,  Art.  26. 

211 


212 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


he  could  loan  his  apprentice  a  mark,  in  order  that  he  might 
travel  in  quest  of  labor.1 

Each  Entered  Apprentice  Mason,  upon  his  initiation  into 
the  mysteries  of  a  Fellow-craft's  grade,  received*  a  distin- 
guishing mark,2  and  took  his  membership  ipso  facto  in  the 
lodge  where  the  degree  was  conferred  upon  him !  The 
initiation  was  substantially  as  follows :  After  the  candi- 
date had  passed  a  successful  examination  touching  his 
skill  before  older  Fellows  of  the  craft,3  a  report  was  made 
to  the  lodge  in  due  form,  and  was  vouched  for  by  the 
Master  who  had  a  thorough  knowledge  of  his  craftsman's 
morals  and  attainments.  In  addition  to  this,  as  already 
shown,  upon  the  conclusion  of  the  apprentice's  six  years 
in  France,  the  master  produced  him  before  the  General 
Master,  and  attested  his  proficiency.4 

Oftentimes  a  burlesque  initiation5  was  performed  upon 
the  applicant,  in  order  to  render  the  genuine  mysteries 
more  solemn  and  impressive.  The  brethren  divested  them- 
selves of  their  implements  and  short  swords  in  entering 
the  mystic  lodge  (perhaps  in  a  crypt),  for  the  reason  that 
the  highest  symbolism  of  harmony  and  sanctity  was  to  be 
impressed  upon  the  suppliant.6  The  lodge  being  opened 
in  suitable  form,  the  Master  presiding  directed  a  brother 
Mason  to  prepare  the  candidate.    His  weapons,  and  all 

1  Do  mag  ein  Meister  seinen  Diener  ein  Zeichen  verleihen  irri  sein  Leryaren 
tm  wandern,  warm  der  meister  nicht  forderunge  hatte.  Ibid.,  Art.  30. 

2  Ein  Meyster  soil  seinen  Diener  sein  Zeichen,  nicht  lenger  vorhalten  den 
xiv.  Tag.   Ibid.,  Art.  26.    See  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  im  Mittelalter,  p.  223. 

3  Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Freimaurer,  p.  59.  This  agrees  with  Lacroix,  Leu 
Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  316. 

*  Li  mestres  a  cui  li  apprentis  ait  fet  et  par  accompli  son  term,  doit  venir 
pardevant  le  mestre  du  mestier  et  tesmoigner  que  son  apprentis  a  feit  son 
terme.    Boileau,  Livre  des  Metiers,  cap.  48. 

5  Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Freimaurer,  p.  60.  In  this  ludicrous  ceremony  the  in- 
itiate was  obliged  to  carry  a  staff ;  for  what  purpose  does  not  appear. 

6  Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Freimaurer,  p.  58,  evidently  followed  by  Findel,  Ge- 
schichte  der  Freimaurerei,  p.  71,  etc.  Winzer,  Die  Deutschen  B  ruder  schaf ten  des 
Mittelalters,  p.  67.  The  sanctity  of  a  mediaeval  lodge  mounts  up  to  the  opening 
of  Teutonic  judicial  organizations.  See  infra. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


213 


substances  of  like  material,  were  taken  from  him  ;  a  por- 
tion of  his  clothing  was  removed,  so  as  to  bare  his  breast,1 
and  with  bandaged  eyes  and  left  foot  unshod  he  sounded 
three  distinct  blows  upon  the  lodge  door.2  Upon  his 
entrance,  a  Warden  received  him  and  conducted  him 
before  the  Master,  who  stood  in  the  East.  The  candidate 
knelt,  and  a  short  prayer  was  offered,  after  which  he  was 
led  thrice  around  the  room  and  back  to  the  door,  where, 
with  his  feet  at  a  right  angle,  he  was  ordered  to  advance  by 
three  upright,  measured  steps.  The  candidate  was  then 
placed  in  position  to  take  the  prescribed  obligation,  which 
involved  the  contact  of  his  right  hand  with  the  sacred 
Scriptures  —  holy-dome  —  and  the  square  and  compasses.3 
He  swore  to  be  true  and  loyal,  and  faithfully  adhere  to  all 
the  charges  and  regulations  of  a  Mason,  and  to  conceal 
with  care  and  fidelity  the  secrets  of  the  fraternity.  The 
bandage  was  then  removed,  and  the  three  great  lights 
explained.  An  apron  was  presented  to  him,  and  having 
received  the  password,  "  Wortzeichen,"  and  grip,  "  Hand- 
schenck,"  he  took  his  seat  as  a  member  of  the  lodge.4 
-  It  is  said  that  white  gloves 5  were  presented  to  the 
initiate  at  the  termination  of  the  degree ;  such  usage  was 
still  practised  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.6 

1  Fallou,  ut  supra,  p.  108,  says  the  left  knee  and  breast  were  both  bared  in 
initiation  during  the  Middle  Ages. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  243.  This  custom  seems  to  have  come  from  the  Benedictines. 
Vide  Du  Cange,  Glos.  Med.  ~et  Infim.  Lat^  sub  voce,  oblati.  Winzer,  ut  supra; 
Krause,  Die  Drei  ozltesten  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  I.,  Ab.  1,  pp.  139,  140. 

3  Findel,  Geschichte  der  Freimaurerei,  p.  71,  and  Fallou,  Ibid.  The  wardens, 
at  all  events,  were  sworn  upon  the  square  and  compass,  "  die  Eid  strebe  mit 
maszstabe  unnd  winkelmas  zu  den  Heyligen."  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen, 
1462,  Art.  18.  This  explicitly  declares  that  the  patron  saints  of  the  order  were 
invoked  during  the  obligation. 

4  Findel,  ut  supra,  p.  72 ;  also,  Winzer,  Die  B ruder schaften  des  Mittelalters,  pp. 
67,  68.  Unless  noted,  the  above  details  have  been  taken  mainly  from  Fallou. 

5  Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Freimaurer,  p.  Ill,  inclines  to  the  opinion  that  this 
usage  began  about  the  year  1688.  In  1686,  it  was  obligatory  to  present  such 
gloves  prior  to  the  initiation.  Plot,  History  of  Staffordshire,  $  86. 

6  White  gloves  were  used  in  the  mystic  ceremonies  of  French  lodges,  at  the 


214 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


A  custom,  in  vogue  among  European  Masons  at  present, 
prevailed  with  the  mediaeval  craftsmen,  to  conclude  the 
initiatory  rites  with  a  banquet,1  —  a  custom  not  confined 
to  stonecutters'  corporations,  but  was  a  common  practice 
with  all  fraternities  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Prayer  on  such 
occasions  opened  and  closed  the  festivities.  According  to 
the  universal  precedent  in  those  distant  ages,  the  Master 
drank  to  the  health  and  honor  of  the  newly-made  brother, 
out  of  a  lodge  drinking  horn,  called  "  willkommen,"  or 
welcome  cup.2  To  this  toast  the  initiate  responded  by 
emptying  the  horn  in  prosperity  of  the  craft.  Ancient 
usage  required  that  this  toasting  should  be  performed  in 
three  cadences  or  motions.  A  glove  or  handkerchief  covered 
the  hand  which  grasped  the  bowl ;  the  lid  was  then  raised 
and  finally  carried  to  the  lips  and  drank  in  three  regu- 
larly-timed draughts  ;3  after  which  it  was  replaced  on  the 
banqueting  table  with  similar  movements.  Oftentimes 
the  festivities  were  prepared  by  the  initiate  himself,  and, 
not  unfrequently,  the  expenses  incident  were  mutually 
borne  between  the  lodge  and  Fellow-craft. 

By  the  ordinance  of  1462,4  the  corporation's  share  of  reck- 
oning is  definitely  fixed,  and  beyond  this  it  must  become 
the  brother's  private  expenditure. 


opening  of  the  present  century,  in  order  to  symbolize  purity;  after  conferring 
the  degree,  they  were  to  be  donated  to  the  aspirant's  wife.  Regulateur  du  Macon, 
p.  33  (grade  d'apprenti). 

1  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  v.  Yahre  1462,  Art.  27. 

2  This  custom,  as  noted  in  the  text,  is  clearly  derived  from  the  ancient  Ger- 
mans. At  Scandinavian  feasts,  the  principal  person  at  the  table  took  the  cup 
first,  and  rising,  saluted  courteously  by  name  either  him  who  sat  nearest  or 
who  was  highest  in  rank.  He  then  drank  the  toast,  and  having  filled  the 
bowl,  presented  it  to  the  person  who  had  been  toasted.  Mallet,  Northern  An- 
tiquities, p.  196.  See  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  489,  for  a  full  and 
lucid  explanation  of  the  substitution  of  Christian  saints  in  place  of  heathen 
gods,  to  whom  these  toasts  were  anciently  given.  The  Regulateur  du  Macon, 
p.  40,  et  seq.  (grade  d'apprenti),  gives  minute  details  for  such  banquets. 

3  Krause,  Die  Drei  celtesten  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  I.,  Abt.  1,  p.  271. 

*  Art.  27,  and  Stieglitz,  Ueber  die  Kircheund  Steinmelz-Hiitte  zu  Rochlitzy  p.  63. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


215 


When  the  degree  of  Fellow  was  conferred  upon  the 
Apprentice,  the  craftsman  was  in  a  position  to  travel 
whither  he  pleased.  Whenever  a  travelling  brother  in 
search  of  employment  or  assistance  approached  a  lodge  and 
desired  to  gain  admission,  he  gave  three  distinct  knocks 
upon  the  door.1  The  brethren  within  immediately  ceased 
their  work,  laid  down  their  tools,  and  formed  themselves 
in  regular,  probably,  geometrical  order,  but  the  Master  or 
Pallirer  (warden)  occupied  no  distinctive  position,  as  has 
been  erroneously  asserted.  Upon  entering  the  lodge,  the 
visiting  craftsman  advanced  by  three  upright  measured 
steps,  and  gave  the  salute,  "Grass,"  or  hailing  sign.2 
After  having  saluted  the  congregated  lodge,  the  wandering 
brother,  in  formal  manner,3  thus  addressed  them :  "  May 
God  greet  you,  may  God  direct  you,  may  God  reward  you, 
president  Master,  Pallirer  (warden),  and  you  good  Fel- 
lows." Thereupon  the  Master,  or  if  absent,  the  Pallirer,  was 
obliged  to  respond  with  thanks,  in  order  that  the  visitor 
might  discern  who  was  the  Master  of  the  lodge.*  Then  the 
stranger  craftsman  resumed  the  fraternal  colloquy,  and 
said  :  "  My  Master  " — calling  him  by  name  —  "  sends  you 
cordial  greeting."5  After  this  he  passed  around  the  lodge 
before  all  the  craftsmen,  for  the  purpose  of  saluting  them 
in  the  same  friendly  way  as  he  had  greeted  the  Master, 
and  in  return  for  his  salutation,  the  Master,  Warden,  and 
Fellows  gave  a  courteous  response.6  And  this  was  the 
custom  for  travelling  Masons  to  go  around  the  lodge,  from 
one  to  another,  thanking  each  brother,  in  case  he  received 
favors  at  his  hands.    In  case  a  Fellow-craft,  thus  wander- 

1  Findel,  Geschichte  der  Freimaurerei,  p.  72 ;  Winzer,  Die  Deutschen  Bruder- 
schaffen  des  Mittelalters,  p.  70.    Consult  Fallou,  ut  supra. 

2  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  zu  Torgau,  1462,  Art.  107. 

3  Gott  griisse  euch.  Gott  weyse  euch.  Gott  lone  euch,  euch  Obermeister 
erwiderung,  Pallirer  und  euch  hiibschen  gesellen.    Ibid.,  loc.  tit. 

*  So  sol  In  der  meister  oder  pallirer  danken  das  er  sieht  welcher  der  oberst 
ist  in  der  Hiitten.  Ibid. 

5  Compare  Sloane  MSS.  3329,  Ed.  by  Woodford,  p.  xix. 

6  Ordnung,  et  loc.  cit.  Stieglitz,  Ueber  der  Steinmetz  -Eutte  zu  Rochlitz,  p.  73. 


216 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


ing,  arrived  before  the  lodge  was  convened  for  labor,  he 
was  entitled  to  receive  a  per  diem  compensation. 

After  the  mutual  salutes,  in  accordance  with  the  pre- 
scribed regulation,  had  been  finished,  if  it  happened  that 
the  visiting  operative  desired  material  assistance,  he  was 
at  liberty  to  demand  it  of  the  Master,  who,  by  virtue  of 
his  obligation,  was  necessitated  to  aid  him  to  the  extent 
of  his  financial  ability,1  and  was  also  required  to  expend 
his  wages  for  the  distressed  brother's  comfort,  if  it  were 
demanded.2  If,  perchance,  the  master  builder  had  so  little 
work  as  to  be  comparatively  idle,  upon  demand,  he  was 
compelled  to  go  with  the  applicant,  and  aid  him  with  the 
other  brethren.3  Also,  when  a  travelling  Mason  petitioned 
for  a  chisel  and  piece  of  stone,  in  order  to  carve  his  mark 
upon  it,  his  request  was  immediately  complied  with.4  As 
a  last  resort,  to  render  his  urgent  appeal  for  help  effective, 
he  exclaimed,  "  Help  me,  that  God  may  help  you."5  Assist- 
ance was  then  given,  and  thereupon  he  removed  his  hat,  and 
said  very  humbly :  "  May  God  thank  (reward)  you,  Wor- 
shipful Master,  Pallirer  (wardens),  and  worthy  Fellows." 

The  custom  of  taking  the  hat  off,  during  the  reception 
ceremonies,  will  be  further  discussed.  It  was  by  means  of 
signs,  grips,  and  passwords,  that  members  of  different 
Masonic  lodges  recognized  one  another,6  and  any  profa- 
nation of  them  was  impressively  guarded  against  and 
severely  punished. 


1  It  was  this  mutual  obligation  among  Masons  that  highly  offended  Dr. 
Plot,  History  of  Staffordshire,  \  86,  who  charges  the  fraternity  in  his  day  (1686) 
with  obtaining  maintenance  by  means  of  signs,  etc. 

2  So  sol  In  der  meister  fordern  auff  das  nechste  lohn  und  nit  versagen. 
Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  zu  Torgau,  Art.  108. 

3  Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 

*  Ein  Itzlicher  wandergeselle  soil  bithen  umb  eine  biicke,  darnach  umb  ein 
Ktiik  steins,  darauf  darnach  umb  gezeugk,  das  soil  man  In  williglichen  leihen. 
Ibid.,  Art.  109. 

5  Helffet  mir  auff  oder  In  das  euch  Gott  helffe.    Ibid.,  Art.  110. 

6  Scherr,  Deutsche  Oultur,  p.  162. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


217 


The  secrets  of  a  mediaeval  lodge  consisted  of  a  thorough 
and  profound  knoAvledge  of  the  rudiments  of  those  arts  and 
sciences  by  a  successful  combination  of  which  superb  edi- 
fices were  erected  to  the  honor  of  the  living  God !  These 
principles  were  preserved  in  symbolic  form,  as  no  written 
draughts  were  allowed. 

The  symbols  were  composed  principally  of  geometric 
elements  ;  for  instance,  of  the  right  angle,  triangle,  quad- 
rangle, pentagon,  sexagon,  octagon,  and  circle.  Sometimes 
they  were  borrowed  from  the  implements  used  in  building, 
such  as  the  square,  gauge,  level,  plumb,  etc.  The  first 
cited  symbols  had  a  direct  reference  to  art,  and  were 
designed  to  serve  both  as  a  perpetual  reminder  of  the 
rules  of  construction,  and  to  portray,  in  a  tangible  form, 
various  types  of  proportion.  In  their  emblematic  relations, 
these  figures  unfolded  to  the  brethren  a  more  profound 
wisdom  ;  to  the  Master,  an  immutable  clue ;  and  to  the 
Fellows  and  Apprentices,  a  finger-board  in  the  ever-length- 
ening route  of  knowledge.  In  nearly  every  instance,  per- 
haps, the  symbols  contained  valuable  moral  instructions  to 
the  humble  and  pious  artisan,1  and  were  typified  to 
impress  the  Mason's  heart  with  the  beauties  of  an  upright 
life,  in  all  business  and  professional  transactions, —  a  mean- 
ing which  lay  concealed  in  the  angle  of  the  square,  the 
perfect  circle,  and  reliable  level.2 

In  the  document  which  is  asserted  to  have  been  written 
by  King  Henry  VI.,  of  England,  is  contained  a  valuable 
summary  of  such  secrets  as  were  claimed  by  mediaeval 
lodges.  There  is  no  reason  to  assume,  however,  that  this 
famous  treatise  was  the  production  of  its  alleged  author, 
although  it  bears  all  the  internal  evidence  of  having  been 
prepared  by  a  Masonic  writer,  towards  the  close  of  the 
fifteenth  or  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Masonic 
mysteries  are  there  stated  to  be  a  knowledge  of  natural 

1  Luebke,  Geschichte  der  Plastik,  p.  442. 

2  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  pp.  609,  610. 

19 


218 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


sciences  and  their  inherent  powers,  together  with  the 
ability  to  interpret  the  varied  operations  of  nature. — 
Especial  claim  is  made  to  skill  in  the  science  of  numbers ; 
to  mechanical  and  mathematical  learning  ;  to  admeasure- 
ments, and  the  entire  understanding  of  moulding  and  fash- 
ioning all  things  for  man's  use,  chiefly  the  constructive  art 
involved  in  the  erection  of  dwellings  and  edifices  of  every 
description  ;  and  also  —  attesting  the  moralistic  tone  of  the 
fraternity  —  to  an  acquaintance  with  those  things  which 
make  good  wen.1  Instruction  was  given  the  members  in  the 
seven  liberal  arts  and  sciences,  which  the  monasteries  con- 
tributed, but,  according  to  the  treatise  from  which  we  are 
quoting,  religion  was  made  a  prominent  portion  of  lodge 
secrets. 

Mediaeval  craftsmen  declared  they  possessed  the  proper 
method  of  teaching  the  arts,  and,  judging  from  the  monu- 
ments of  skill  which  they  have  transmitted,  it  is  necessary 
to  concede  the  correctness  of  this  assumption. 

It  was  also  recited  to  be  among  the  mysteries  of  Masonry, 
the  science  of  attaining  a  degree  of  moral  perfection,  and 
becoming  good  men  without  the  fluctuating  influences  of 
hope  and  fear.2  However,  of  all  Masonic  secrets  claimed 
by  this  ancient  record,  the  most  significant  is  "  the  way  of 
winning  the  faculty  of  Abrac."3  This  faculty  of  Abrac  is 
of  such  transcendent  importance  for  the  internal  history  of 
lodge  Arcana,  that  a  detailed  dissertation  of  the  same  will 
be  given  hereafter.  It  will  materially  assist  in  tracing 
mystical  references  of  Masonry  to  a  very  remote  antiquity, 
and  furnish  the  thread  by  which  Oriental  influence  can  be 
connected  with  the  Gothic  symbolism  of  the  fraternity. 

Lodges,  during  the  Middle  Ages,  paid  close  attention  to 

1  This  curious  manuscript  lias  been  frequently  published ;  my  edition  is 
the  reprint  by  Krause,  Die  Drei  celtesten  Kunsterkunden,  Bd.  L,  Ab.  1,  p.  20. 

2  "  The  skylle  of  becommynge  gude  and  parfyghte  wythouten  the  Holpynges 
of  Fere  and  Hope."    Krause,  ut  supra,  p.  26. 

3  Krause,  loc.  cit. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


219 


their  members'  morals,  and  instructions  having  a  devotional 
and  spiritualistic  tendency  constituted  a  large  part  of  lodge 
discipline  ;  all  trifling  subjects  were  rigidly  excluded,  and 
every  infringement  upon  the  rules  of  order  and  general 
regulations  was  severely  punished.1 

The  prescriptions,  which  required  an  implicit  obedience 
by  the  members,  were  calculated  to  ennoble  the  heart,  and 
dignify  humanity.  It  was  ordered  that  the  Master  should 
hold  his  authority  with  equal  justice  towards  his  Wardens 
and  Fellows  ;2  and  dishonor  attached  to  that  Master  who  vil- 
lified  and  assailed  the  character  of  a  brother  craftsman.3 
Any  Mason  who  borrowed  aught  from  his  brethren,  and  by 
his  indifferent  conduct  evinced  a  disinclination  to  adjust 
the  loan,  or  lacked  the  will  to  return  in  kind,  or  belied,  or 
betrayed,  and  endeavored  to  supplant  another  in  his  work,4 
or  scorned  and  injured  him  while  in  the  faithful  prosecu- 
tion of  his  Masonic  vocations, —  such  brother  was  held 
unworthy  of  fraternal  association,  and  was  relentlessly 
expelled.5  No  Pallirer  (warden)  or  Fellow  should  further 
his  individual  interests  by  a  present  or  bribe  to  the 
Master, —  such  attempt  being  strictly  enjoined  by  lodge 
regulations.6 

Pallirer  were  obliged  to  manifest  a  steady  and  unwaver- 
ing kindness  towards  the  Fellows  and  Apprentices,  and  on 
every  occasion  show,  by  unequivocal  conduct,  to  what  extent 
such  professions  were  genuine.7  These  officers  were  pro- 
hibited from  underminino;  the  Master  in  his  legitimate 
labors  ;  neither  should  he  be  slandered  by  false  and  mali- 

1  Scherr,  Deutsche  Cultur,  p.  162. 

2  Ordnung  der  Steinmttzen,  1462,  Art.  9,  10,  19. 

3  Ibid.,  Art  17. 

*  Yet  shall  no  mayster  supplant  oyer.  Halliweirs  MSS.,  17  Al,  ars.  11. 
The  English  manuscripts  contain  similar  injunctions.  See  Kloss,  Die  Frei- 
maurerei  in  ihrer  wahren  Bedeutung,  p.  122,  and  Findel,  Geschichie  der  Frei- 
maurerei,  p.  99. 

5  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen,  1462,  Art.  34,  37. 

«  Ibid.,  Art.  21.  » Ibid.,  Art.  49. 


220 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


cious  reports  ;  if  the  Wardens  were  at  any  time  detected  in 
thus  backbiting,  they  stood  before  the  craft  as  dishonored.1 

It  was  the  Pallirer's  duty  to  assist  the  Master  in  his 
management  and  control  of  the  Fellows,  to  carefully  scru- 
tinize their  workmanship,  in  order  that  the  building  or 
the  Master  might  suffer  no  loss.2  A  portion  of  his  powers 
enabled  him  to  clear  the  lodge  from  all  tippling,  except 
in  quiet  vespers,  when  a  little  relaxation  was  allowed ;  but 
he  was  charged  with  the  duty  of  restricting  the  craft  from 
an  indulgence  in  excessive  drinking.3  In  this  respect  a 
mediaeval  Warden  exactly  corresponds  with  a  junior  of 
the  present  time,  whose  station  and  duties  require  him  to 
superintend  the  craft  during  the  hdurs  of  refreshment,  and 
to  guard  them  against  converting  the  intermission  of  labor 
into  intemperance  or  excesses.  ~No  Master  was  at  liberty 
to  advance  a  Fellow  who  slandered  or  did  an  injury  to  his 
brother,  or  associated  with  lewd  women,  and  lived  in  a 
licentious  manner ;  —  if  he  failed  to  confess,  he  should  be 
expelled  as  an  evil-doer. 

No  Fellow-craftsman  was  permitted  to  drive  usurious 
bargains  between  the  Master  and  other  persons ;  neither 

1  Ibid.,  Art.  53.  In  many  craft  guilds  the  master  lost  his  privileges  to  pre- 
side over  a  trade,  if  he  served  as  journeyman  under  a  master.  Lacroix,  Les 
Moeurs  el  Usages  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  317. 

2  Ordinance  of  Torgau,  1462,  Art.  57. 

3  Ibid.,  Art.  58,  59.  This  salutary  regulation  was  enforced  by  the  guilds  of 
England,  and  constituted  an  essential  element  of  internal  discipline.  It  was 
a  standing  order,  that  "  whoso  make  any  noyse  in  tyme  of  drynking  where 
throw  ye  breyere  and  sisteren  shul  be  greyd  he  shal  pay  to  amendment  of  the 
lyzth  (lights)  di.  pound  of  wax."  Toulman  Smith,  English  Guilds,  p.  61. 
Another  ordinance  apparently  incorporated  into  guildic  government,  was  a 
rigid  prohibition,  under  penalty  of  xiid  (a  large  sum  in  those  days),  for  any 
member  to  enter  the  ale  chamber  without  leave.  In  addition  to  the  honor  of 
presiding  over  the  guild,  there  was  a  substantial  emolument  appurtenant  to 
the  office,  in  the  nature  of  a  more  liberal  supply  of  ale  than  was  allowed  the 
congregated  brothers  and  sisters.  Ibid.,  pp.  90-92,  95.  The  master  or  alder- 
man "  seal  hav  evere  nith  wilis  ye  drinken  ij  galoun  of  ale "  —  two  gallons 
of  ale  for  a  master  in  one  drinking  bout !  I  fancy  this  would  transcend  the 
carrying  capacity  of  our  modern  worshipfuls. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


221 


should  he  speak  evil  of  the  brethren,  nor  gibe  them.  Over- 
eating and  intemperate  drinking  were  interdicted  this 
grade  of  operatives.1  A  constant  tendency,  on  the  part  of 
the  mediaeval  Masons,  is  perceptible,  to  impress  the  mind 
with  the  great  fundamental  principles  of  truth  and  mo- 
rality. 

A  cursory  examination  of  the  Strassburg  ordinance  of 
1459,  will  make  manifest  the  profound  religious  feeling 
which  evidently  inspired  the  master  builders  to  frame,  in 
a  Christian  spirit,  the  following  concluding  clause:  "  Since 
God,  the  Almighty,  has  graciously  favored  us,  masters  and 
workmen,  in  devoting  our  talents  and  labor  in  a  praise- 
worthy manner,  for  the  erection  of  His  sacred  edifices  and 
other  artistic  works,  and  by  such  handicraft  are  enabled  to 
earn  an  honest  living,  therefore,  in  humble  imitation  of 
Christian  people,  will  we  for  the  future,  with  pure  thank- 
fulness, continue,  moved  by  our  hearts'  impulses,  to  serve 
God,  and  in  that  way  deserve  our  souls'  salvation."2  Such 
principles,  with  which  the  Masonic  life  and  conduct  were 
in  harmony,  necessarily  contributed  to  elevate  the  brethren, 
and  developed  a  high  honor  and  sincere  regard  for  the 
lodge  as  a  consecrated  place.3 

Among  the  multifarious  duties  incident  to  the  Pallirer's 
office,  was  that  of  testing  the  accuracy  of  the  gauges  and 
squares  ;  and  in  order  that  no  false  proportions  might 
vitiate  the  exactitude  of  measurements,  he  was  obliged  to 
see  these  implements  properly  adjusted.4  The  "Warden 
placed  each  block  of  stone  in  position  before  the  appren- 

1  Ordnung,  til,  Art.  33-8,  71-76.  Like  regulation  among  the  early  English 
masons.  Vide  Halliwell  MSS.,  Lansdowne  MSS.,  Art.  6.  "  Also,  that  none 
slander  another  behind  his  back  to  make  him  lose  his  good  name."  Hughan, 
Old  Masonic  Charges,  p.  35. 

2  Vide  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  v.  Yahre  1459,  in  Krause,  Die  Drei  adlesten 
Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  II.,  Abt.  1,  p.  288. 

3  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  zu  Torgau,  1462,  Art.  11-13. 

4  Ein  Pallirer  soil  allweg  Richtscheyt  und  Kolmasz  und  alles  was  zu  den 
gehort  rechtfertigen.    1  bid..  Art.  49. 

19* 


222 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


tices  and  Fellows,  and  drew  out  suitable  designs  upon  it ; 
he  was  compelled  to  inspect  with  care  the  preparation  of 
all  material,  and  have  it  perfected  up  to  the  submitted 
diagrams.1  If  the  Pallirer  fractured  any  material  to  such 
extent  as  to  render  it  useless,  he  was  not  allowed  com- 
pensation for  the  work,  and,  moreover,  must  pay  for  the 
stone.2 

Equally  minute  regulations  were  enforced  upon  the  Fel- 
lows while  at  labor.  The  craftsman  was  strictly  enjoined 
to  replace  the  measuring  board  (gauge)  after  necessary  use, 
nor  was  he  permitted  to  take  it  d^wn  again  until  the 
Master  or  Warden  had  examined  his  workmanship.  He 
was  also  instructed  never  to  leave  the  square  hanging  upon 
the  stone.  The  gauge  must  be  returned  to  its  proper  place, 
and  the  level  hung  up.3 

It  was  zealously  inculcated  as  a  lodge  duty  to  render 
requisite  assistance  to  a  brother  applying  for  help,  not 
only  in  matter  of  charity,  but  to  aid  him  in  the  artistic 
preparation  of  work,  if  the  brother  were  unable  to  do  it 
himself.4  If  the  craftsman  could  not  change  the  position 
of  the  stone  on  which  he  was  at  work,  or  having  moved 
it,  found  himself  unable  to  properly  replace  the  same, 
upon  a  call  for  aid  to  a  brother  within  hailing  distance, 
assistance  was  immediately  rendered.5  Without  permis- 
sion expressly  given,  he  was  not  at  liberty  to  take  addi- 
tional working  tools.6  And  any  operative  violating  these 
rules  was  subject  to  a  payment  of  certain  fines  for  each 
infraction.    Every  Fellow-craft  was  punished  with  pre- 


1  Der  Pallirer  soil  dera  Gesellen  und  dem  Diener  williglichen  stein  wol 
besehen  ob  er  recht  und  wol  gemacht  ist.   Ibid.,  Art.  50. 

2  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen,  1462,  Art.  51.  8  Ibid.,  Art.  69. 

4  "  Yat  sygth  hys  fellow  he  wen  on  a  stone, 
And  ys  yn  point  to  spylle  yat  stone, 
Shall  amend  yat  stone  and  help  him."  , 

HalliwellMSS.,  Art.  11. 
5  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen,  1462,  Art.  72.  6  Ibid.,  Art.  68. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


223 


scribed  penalties,  in  case  the  material  before  him  fell  from 
the  bench,  or  carelessly  suffered  the  handle  of  an  imple- 
ment to  slip  or  become  loose,  particularly  if  such  working 
tool  were  essential  to  the  fine  preparation  of  the  stone ; 
because  in  this  way  the  work  might  be  injured  or  rendered 
less  accurate.  If  the  artist  failed  to  close  and  properly 
secure  the  window  which  opened  upon  his  bench,  a  fine 
was  assessed  against  him.1 

It  was  ordered  that  the  Pallirer  (Wardens)  and  Fellows, 
every  Monday  afternoon  at  one  o'clock,  during  quiet  ves- 
pers, should  repair  to  the  Master,2  in  order  to  learn  what 
work  was  to  be  prepared,  and  to  be  properly  set  at  labor 
for  the  ensuing  week. 

The  German  craftsmen  appear  to  have  been  under  the 
direct  superintendence  of  a  "  pallirer,"  who  answered  to 
the  English  "warden." 3  He  was  the  assistant  of  the 
Master,  and,  under  certain  circumstances,  assumed  his 
station  and  duties.  In  case  the  Master  was  absent  from 
the  lodge,  or  distant  from  the  building  in  process  of  con- 
struction, or  died  during  its  erection,  the  Pallirer  had 
plenary  powers  to  act,  and  do  what  the  exigencies  de- 
manded.4 When  the  Master  was  called  away,  it  devolved 
upon  his  representative  to  dismiss  the  craft,  to  assist 
travelling  Fellows,  and  also  to  allow  the  craftsmen  and 
apprentices  a  suitable  time  for  refreshment  and  repose.5 


1  Ibid.,  Art.  69. 

2  "  Welcher  pallirer  nith  bey  seinem  meyster  und  verhore,  was  er  den 
montag  thun  soli,"  u.  s.  w.  Ibid.,  Art.  86.  This  is  the  groundwork  of  the 
present  absolute  power  of  a  master  to  lay  out  and  execute  lodge  work. 

3  Scherr,  Deutsche  Cultur,  p.  162.  Sometimes  written  Polirer.  Krause,  Die 
Drei  adtesten  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  II.,  Ab.  2,  p.  262.  For  duties  of  Pallirer,  see 
Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer  wahren  Bedeutung,  p.  140,  et  seq. 

*  Wenn  ein  meyster  nicht  bey  dem  werk  ist,  oder  von  hinnen  were  so  hat 
der  Pallirer  gantze  vole  macht  zu  them  oder  zu  lassen  das  recht  ist  und  in 
abscheid  dess  Meisters.  Ordinance  of  1462,  Art.  55.  The  principle  involved 
in  this  regulation  still  subsists  as  a  landmark  of  the  Freemasons. 

5  Ibid.,  Art.  60,  61. 


224  THE  EARL  Y  HISTOR  Y  AND 


One  of  the  prevailing  usages  which  has  descended  to 
our  time,  was  that,  in  the  Master's  absence,  the  lodge  and 
its  government  were  entrusted  to  his  care,  for  which  he 
was  answerable  to  his  superior  officer ;  and  during  such 
temporary  authority,  the  Pallirer  or  Warden  was  obliged 
to  regulate  everything  in  accordance  with  strict  justice.1 
Upon  him  also  rested  the  responsible  duty  of  guarding 
the  freedom  of  the  lodge,2  and  to  preserve  the  old  land- 
marks and  Masonic  privileges  according  to  ancient  cus- 
tom, as  sanctioned  by  the  "book  of  Masons'  law."3  He 
was  required  to  be  the  first  at  lodge  in  the  morning,  and 
also  at  midday,  after  refreshment,  as  soon  as  the  lodge 
was  called  on  for  work,  so  that  the  Fellows,  by  virtue  of 
his  example,  should  go  to  labor  at  the  proper  time. 

In  case  the  Master  suffered  damage  through  the  delay 
or  dereliction  of  his  warden  in  these  duties,  the  loss  must 
be  indemnified.  The  high  importance  attending  the 
administration  of  the  Pallirer's  office  caused  his  election 
and  obligation  to  be  singularly  impressive.4  In  such 
selection,  particular  care  was  taken  to  secure  a  suitable 
and  efficient  officer,  and  the  choice  was  only  made  in  the 
presence  of  Masters  and  Wardens.  No  apprentice  was 
eligible  to  this  position ;  nor  could  a  Warden  be  inducted 
into  office  until  his  competency  was  vouched  for  by  the 
Master,  who,  with  the  other  Masters  of  lodges,  was  obliged 
to  attest  his  fitness,  and,  in  a  measure,  be  responsible  for 
the  faithful  performance  of  his  duties.5 

1  Oidinance  of  1462,  Art.  48,  65.  2  Ibid.,  Art.  60. 

3  Also  die  Pallirer  und  halten  das  also  das  altherkomen  der  Huttenrecht 
nach  Inhaldunge  der  alten  Gewonheit  und  nach  dem  Buch  und  Ordnunge  der 
Eide.  Ibid.,  Art.  47.  The  section  cited  is  suggestive  of  two  facts :  the  one, 
that  the  regulations  above  referred  to  are  here  plainly  declared  to  have  been 
drawn  from  older  lodge  rituals  (Huttenrecht).  The  other,  that  the  Master  and 
Pallirer  unquestionably  assumed  an  obligation  specifically  different  from  that 
administered  to  the  initiate  Apprentice  or  Fellow:  "ordnunge  der  Eid,"  ac- 
cording to  the  direction  of  the  oath. 

4  Ordnuncj  der  Steinmetzen,  1462,  Art.  18-19. 

5  Und  keinen  setzen  er  konne  es  denn  verhegen  das  die  leute  und  er  damit 
versorgt  sein.    Ibid.,  Art.  18. 


A NTIQ  UITIES  OF  FREEMA SONR  Y.  225 

Upon  the  election  of  a  Pallirer  or  Warden,  and  accept- 
ance of  the  position  being  signified,  he  was  clothed  with 
the  prerogatives  of  that  office.  Previous  to  investiture, 
lie  took  the  prescribed  oath  in  due  form,  which  was  with 
his  hand  on  the  gauge  and  square ;  and  in  this  significant 
attitude  he  obligated  himself,  under  the  invocation  of  the 
patron  saints,  to  protect  the  building  and  preserve  his 
Master  from  loss.1  He  was  then  placed  before  the  Fellow- 
craftsmen,  who  were  compelled  to  promise  him  faithful 
obedience;  in  his  installation,  the  same  submission  was 
exacted  as  was  demanded  during  the  ceremony  of  induct- 
ing a  Master  into  office.2 

These  rites,  in  conformity  to  the  usages  of  that  age, 
were  concluded  with  a  banquet.3 

The  earliest  authentic  documents  indicate  that,  as  far 
back  as  the  eleventh  century,  the  craftsmen  were  regularly 
organized  while  at  labor.  In  a  celebrated  manuscript  in 
the  Imperial  Library  at  Paris,4  and  of  which  a  copy  is  now 
before  me,  seven  masons,  clothed  with  tunic  aprons,  are 
delineated  at  work  on  a  wall  being  laid  over  two  arches, 
supported  by  three  columns.  Two  artisans,  one  between 
each  of  the  pilasters,  are  manipulating  a  newly-finished 
block  of  marble,  while  two  others,  apparently  apprentices, 
standing  erect,  have  severally  handed  a  perfect  ashlar 
stone  to  three  workmen  behind  the  wall  above,  one  of 
whom  is  busily  engaged  in  cementing  a  block  to  the 
building  with  a  trowel.  Another  is  employed  in  knock- 
ing the  stone  which  he  has  just  received  from  the  crafts- 
men below  with  a  stroke-hammer  ;  and  the  third  operative 

1  So  soli  In  die  Pallirschaft  befehlen  und  die  eid  strebe  mit  ruaszstabe  und 
winkelmas  zu  den  Heyligen  die  Gebeude  und  dess  meisters  schaden  zu  be- 
wahren.    Ibid.,  Art.  18. 

2  Wenn  ein  meister  einen  Pallirer  hat  gesetzt  so  sollen  In  die  Gesellen 
geloben  gehorsam  zu  sein  als  dem  Meyster.    Ibid.,  Art.  20. 

3  Ordnuny  der  Steinmelzen,  1462,  Art.  20. 

4  Designated  as  Bible  de  Noialles.  Vide  Lacroix,  Les  Arts  et  Sciences  aw 
Moyen  Age,  p.  465. 

P 


226 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


is  casting  an  antique  plumb-line,  in  order  to  test  the 
«  perpendicular  accuracy  of  the  rising  superstructure.  It 
may  be  added  that  the  plumb  seems  to  be  composed  of  an 
elongated  bar  of  lead  or  iron  attached  to  a  cord,  at  the 
extreme  end  of  which  is  a  hook,  evidently  designed  to  be 
fastened  to  the  outer  edge  of  the  wall,  so  that  when  the 
oscillating  motion  of  the  line  ceased,  the  wall  itself  was  a 
resting  board. 

In  their  earliest  workmanship,  the  apprentices,  no  doubt, 
performed  the  more  unimportant  parts  of  labor ;  as,  for 
example,  familiarizing  themselves  with  the  use  of  masonic 
tools,  by  pounding  off  the  angles  and  corners  of  rough 
stones  with  a  stroke-hammer,  and  using  the  gauge  or 
measuring  board  to  shape  edges  into  true  and  perfect  lines. 
I  think  it  more  in  harmony  with  the  dictates  of  sound 
reason  to  presume  that  the  fullest  instruction  in  all  the 
details  of  art  was  vouchsafed  the  apprentice,  in  an  exact 
proportion  as  he  evinced  his  adaptitude  to  acquire  the^ 
rudiments  of  a  strict  science. 

~No  doubt  a  secret  meaning  was  attached  to  many  things 
which  he  beheld,  but  the  precise  signification  of  which 
was  only  comprehended  when  he  had  mastered  the  theory 
upon  which  the  practice  was  grounded  —  the  occasional 
gleam  of  light  that  flashed  before  his  inquiring  eye,  con- 
veyed no  fixed  idea  to  a  mind  untaught,  as  yet,  to  interpret 
the  mystic  symbolism  of  its  brightness.  For  instance,  as 
though  the  apprentice  were  given  the  bones  of  a  human 
frame  and  directed  to  conjoin  them  into  a  skeleton,  he 
was  equally  ignorant  of  that  occult  combination  by  which 
the  synthesis  of  the  cathedral  or  abbey  was  completed. 
Precisely  as  though  an  anatomist  should  be  compelled  to 
learn  disjointed  bones  and  scattered  fragments  of  the  body, 
he  would  gradually  acquire  such  proficiency  as  to  be  able 
to  tell  at  a  glance  the  bones  of  the  fingers,  hands,  legs, 
arms  ;  that  wondrous  casket  of  the  brain  — the  skull,  and 
shoulders  ;  bones  of  arms  and  the  feet ;  the  several  detached 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


227 


parcels  of  the  vertebra?,  together  with  varied  minuter 
bones  ;  or,  in  other  words,  his  skill  as  an  anatomical  artist 
might  permit  him  to  fashion  and  mould  each  and  all  of 
the  unnumbered  parts  of  the  human  frame  into  an  exact 
similitude  with  the  samples  before  him ;  but  until  he  had 
been  taught  how  to  unite  the  multitudinous  particles  of 
this  disjointed  body,  no  inherent  genius,  no  innate  in- 
genuity could  assist  him  in  the  perplexing  task.  This,  I 
apprehend,  will  sufficiently  illustrate  the  principle  which 
prevailed  among  mediaeval  Masons,  touching  instruction 
to  apprentice  stonecutters. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  for  a  moment  that  this  class  of 
artificers,  during  the  continuance  of  their  long  term  of 
service,  was  simply  burdened  with  the  mere  drudgery 
of  hammering  rude  and  jagged  stones,  or  wielding  the 
gauge  with  no  higher  ambition  than  to  make  straight  and 
perfect  corners.  His  teacher  was  his  master,  and  as  such 
practically  progressive ;  and  all  the  instruction  essential 
to  render  the  apprentice  a  thorough  and  proficient  work- 
man was  bestowed  upon  him  during  this  tutelage. 

And  in  the  pursuance  of  this  purpose  he  advanced 
gradually,  with  a  greater  or  lesser  degree  of  proficiency, 
to  a  high  standard  of  mechanical  skill ;  so  that,  at  the 
time  the  grade  of  Fellow  was  conferred  on  him,  he  was 
in  full  possession  already  of  the  necessary  knowledge 
which  made  him  a  master  of  the  details  of  architectural  art. 
By  details  of  art,  are  to  be  understood  that  the  apprentice 
mason,  during  his  period  of  service,  as  in  the  case  cited 
of  the  anatomist,  had  become  thoroughly  skilled  in  the 
several  parts  of  his  trade.  For  example,  he  could  work 
out  with  exquisite  elaborateness  a  floriated  capital,  and 
chisel  into  natural  semblance  the  niched  figures  with  which 
the  church  militant  was  delineated  upon  airy  towers  and 
cathedral  walls ;  he  could  dress,  with  accuracy,  the  polished 
stones  suitable  for  elegant  pilasters,  and  contributed  his 
share  of  arches  upon  which  the  superstructure  was  raised 


228 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


with  infinite  skill, —  all  this  he  had  acquired  during  his 
apprenticeship  ;  but  the  key  by  which  these  multitudinous 
and  detached  portions  were  conjoined,  the  combination  by 
which  foundation  stones,  pilasters  and  columns,  shining 
walls,  chapters  gracefully  wreathed  with  flowers,  arches 
and  mullions,  canopies  and  ribbed  tracery,  flying  buttresses 
and  rosette  finials,  were  put  together  to  form  the  cathedral, 
was  one  of  the  secrets  which  he  obtained  on  being  ad- 
vanced to  the  degree  of  Fellow-craft,  and  with  this  he 
received-  the  interpretation  of  symbolic  allusions  with 
which  each  church  was  filled ;  and,  likewise,  the  emblem- 
atical lodge  treasures  were  explained  to  the  extent  that,  in 
future,  he  could  read  with  ease  the  mystic  references  which 
hitherto  had  guided  him  as  a  finger-board  on  the  high- 
ways, with  no  other  signification  than  a  necessary  orna- 
mentation applied  to  sacred  edifices,  or  as  an  inexplicable 
appurtenance  of  lodge  furniture. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


Wages  of  Builders  :  What,  and  when  Paid  —  Compensation  by  the 
Ordinance  of  1254  —  The  Warden  Guards  Lodge  Records  —  Pays 
the  Craft  at  Sunset  — The  Master:  His  Relations  to  the 
Members  —  Is  the  Judge,  Custodian  of  Plans,  and  Lays  out 
Work  —  A  Master  must  be  Tried  and  Approved  by  two  Master 
Builders  —  Lodge  to  be  Free  from  Discord,  and  Typical  of 
Perfect  Purity  —  Treasurer  —  Charges  against  Delinquents  — 
Several  Lodges  around  Large  Structures — Expulsion  of  a 
Master —  Confessional. 

interesting  question  arises  at  this  point,  as  to 
how  the  Freemasons  of  the  Middle  Ages  were 
paid  or  maintained  during  their  sojourn  in  and 
about  their  work.  The  erudition  of  Von  Rau- 
mer1  has  furnished  a  partial  solution  of  what  Paly,  in  his 
Manual  of  Architecture,2  confessed  to  be  uncertai  n. 

In  the  erection  of  the  cathedral  at  Pisa,  in  the  year  1063, 
by  Buschette,  who  is  claimed  to  have  been  master  builder 
of  the  work,  and  a  Greek  or  Byzantine  architect — an  allega- 
tion which  the  distinguished  historian  first  cited  thinks 
by  no  means  proven3  —  the  operatives  were  supported  by 

1  Geschichte  der  Hohenstaufen,  Bd.  VL,  p.  490. 

2  A  Manual  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  211. 

3  Vide  Emeric  David,  Histoire  de  la  Peinture  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  115.  Mi- 
lizia,  Memorie  degli  Architetti,  Tomo  IV.,  p-  134,  asserts  the  Grecian  nativity 
of  the  artist  referred  to,  but  following  Vasari,  Vie  dei  Architetti,  etc.,  Tomo  I., 
p.  216,  too  closely,  falls  into  an  error  of  date,  and  also  assigns  the  foundations 
of  the  Pisan  cathedral  to  the  year  1016.  See  Hawkins,  History  of  the  Origin 
of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  88. 

20  229 


230 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


contributions.  Each  family  was  expected  to  make  volun- 
tary donations,  until  the  structure  was  completed,  of  a  sum 
equivalent  to  twenty  English  shillings.  The  city  at  that 
time  numbered  about  thirty-four  thousand  families,  who, 
at  the  foregoing  rate,  rendered  a  yearly  revenue  to  the 
construction  of  the  church  of  £34,000  sterling.  Some  of 
the  contributors  made  very  slow  payments,  and  proved 
quite  refractory  ;  and  others  threw  many  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  collections,  in  order  that  the  workmen  might  be 
hindered  ;  but  these  suffered  adequate  punishment  at  the 
Archbishop's  hands,  by  being  banished  from  the  city.1 
In  addition  to  the  above  taxations  and  exactments,  the 
structure  received  substantial  presents  of  personal  property, 
and  occasionally  grants  of  land.  The  donors  usually  ob- 
tained from  the  ecclesiastics  a  gold  ring,  foxes'  skins,  etc., 
as  a  memorial  for  their  gifts. 

Oftentimes  public  funds  were  liberally  appropriated  for 
the  purpose  mentioned,  and  also  powerful  monarchs,  as,  for 
instance,  the  kings  of  Sicily  and  the  Byzantine  emperors, 
who  had  close  commercial  relations  with  Pisa,  frequently 
made  the  cathedral  rich  and  valuable  presents.  This 
building,  whose  construction  is  specially  cited  in  order  to 
indicate  the  means  by  which  the  great  cathedrals  of  this 
and  subsequent  epochs  were,  erected,  had  an  intendant  of 
the  possessions  which  it  acquired  in  Constantinople ;  and 
in  Western  Europe,  Frederick  I.  had  these  donations  under 
his  own  particular  care.  According  to  the  terms  of  a  con- 
tract made  a  hundred  years  later,  in  the  year  1165,  it  was 
stipulated  that  on  important  festival  days  certain  gifts  of 
money,  wine,  and  provisions  should  be  furnished,  and  in 
case  of  sickness  of  the  craftsmen,  certain  deductions  were 
to  be  allowed.2 

As  late  as  the  year  1265,  during  the  construction  of  St. 


1  Von  Raumer,  Geschtchte  der  Hohenstaufen,  op.  et  loc.  cit. 

2  Von  Raumer,  Ibid.,  Theil  VI.,  p.  491. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  231 


Antoninus'  church,  at  Padua,  4000  lire  were  stipulated  as 
a  yearly  sum  for  the  building  and  embellishment  of  the  edi- 
fice. This  sum  of  money  was  regularly  paid  until  the  work 
was  completed.  The  accounts  involved  in  this  business 
transaction  were  under  the  direction  of  a  Minorite  monk  and 
two  citizens  of  the  place.1  For  the  purpose  of  successfully 
terminating  the  labors  of  the  fraternity,  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities,  during  the  Middle  Ages,  granted  indulgences 
to  those  who  offered  voluntary  contributions  to  provide 
the  means  wherewith  to  construct  sacred  edifices.  It  fre- 
quently occurred  that  clerics  were  directed  to  traverse 
foreign  countries,  endowed  with  such  plenary  powers,  in 
order  to  accumulate  money  and  material  to  be  used  in 
building  churches.2  Noblemen  and  their  ladies  generously 
aided  in  these  enterprises,  sometimes  through  a  liberal 
expenditure  of  finances,  or  goods  and  chattels,  and  at 
others  by  actually  contracting  for  the  sustenance  and  sup- 
port of  one  or  more  operative  masons.3  In  the  year  1192> 
the  artificers  employed  in  building  for  the  Bishop  of 
Chester,  were  paid  out  of  the  personal  property  belonging 
to  the  monastery  there.4 

The  earliest  authentic  account  of  the  pay  which  a  master 
mason  received  for  daily  labor,  is  contained  in  the  regula- 
tions digested  by  Boileau.  Whenever  a  master  builder 
was  called  upon,  and  sworn,  to  decide  any  question  arising 
in  the  progress  of  a  work,  or  selected  to  arbitrate  any  matter 
connected  with  his  trade,  he  was  entitled  to  receive  as 
wages  two  sous  from  each  party  in  the  case.5    At  a  later 


1  Worueber  ein  Minorit  und  zwei  Burger  Rechnung  fiihrten  und  ablegten. 
Von  Raumer,  op.  et  loc.  cit. 

2  Berington,  Literary  History  of  the  Middle  Ages,  p.  324. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  325. 

4  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture  of  England,  p.  44. 

6  Ordinnances  relatives  aux  Metiers  de  Paris,  cxii.,  p.  373,  Depping  ed.,  1837. 
At  the  period  designated,  a  sou  was,  according  to  Lacroix,  Les  Moeurs  et  Usages, 
p.  91,  equivalent  to  twenty  francs. 


£32 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


period,  viz.,  in  the  year  1267vwhen  Niccola  Pisano  labored 
as  a  master  stonecutter  on  the  cathedral  at  Sienna,  he  re- 
ceived for  his  day's  wages  eight  Tison  solidi.1 

In  the  year  1293,  each  master  builder  who  worked  in  a 
lodge  erected  near  the  cathedral  in  process  of  construction 
at  Orvieto,  according  to  a  document  cited  by  Marchese,2 
was  paid  the  sum  of  two  solidi  for  his  work.  It  does  not, 
however,  appear  from  the  early  German  or  English  Ma- 
sonic records,  what  rate  of  wages  was  fixed  for  the  masons, 
unless  the  statement  made  in  the  Lansdowne  MSS.,3  that 
Saint  Alban  gave  the  fraternity  three  shillings  and  six- 
pence a  week,  be  understood  to  signify  that  during  the 
year  1560,  when,  it  is  alleged,  the  manuscript  was  drawn 
up,  this  was  accepted  as  regular  pay.  It  is,  perhaps,  reason- 
able to  assume  that,  prior  to  the  year  mentioned,  these 
wages  were  fixed  rates  at  the  time  a  document  of  an  earlier 
date  had  been  written,  from  which  the  MSS.  quoted  was 
transcribed.  At  all  events,  neither  the  Halliwell  MSS. 
nor  that  discovered  by  Cooke — both  more  ancient  —  speci- 
fies a  sum  which  was  ordered  by  Saint  Alban  to  be  the 
future  schedule  of  compensation. 

At  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  or  opening  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  an  English  master  mason  received  for  two  days' 
labor,  sixteen  pence,  and  two  shillings  for  a  period  of  four 
days'  work.4  It  is  not  unlikely  that  a  pay-table,  in  early 
times,  was  established  between  the  Master  and  his  lodge 
members,  independent  of  local  legislation  ;  and  after  such 
rate  had  been  agreed  upon,  neither  the  master  nor  his 
workmen  were  at  liberty  to  change  it.  In  the  ordinance 
of  1462,  the  principle  is  recognized  in  the  most  unequivocal 
terms.    The  master  is  expressly  forbidden  to  vary  or  climin- 

1  Marchese,  Vie  dei  ArcliiteUi  Pittori,  Tomo  I.,  p.  90. 

*  I  capi  scultori  avevano  poco  piu  di  sei  soldi  il  giorno,  i  garzoni  (Fellows) 
due.    Marchese,  Ibid.,  p.  90,  note  (2). 

8  See  Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Charges,  p.  33; 

*  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture,  p.  362. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY 


233 


ish  the  daily  stipend.1  As  previously  stated  in  the  pre- 
ceding part  of  this  work,  the  increasing  demands  and 
exclusive  assumptions  of  the  English  Freemasons,  who, 
about  the  year  1424,  refused  to  accept  wages  as  prescribed 
by  law,  caused  the  statute  hitherto  cited  to  be  passed,  which 
modified  the  operative  nature  of  the  guild. 

In  the  year  1610,  the  following  wages,  apportioned  by 
the  justices,  were  made  binding  upon  the  Freemasons:2 

With  Meat.  Without  Meat. 

A  freemason  who  can  draw  his  own  plans  8  d.  12  d. 

A  rough  mason  who  can  take  charge  of  others  5  "  10  " 

A  bricklayer  4  "  8  " 

"       "        apprentice  3  «  7  " 

Subsequently  it  was  enacted  that  they  should  be  paid  in 
accordance  with  the  subjoined  schedule  :3 

With  Meat  and  Drink.  Without. 

A  freemason  ,6  d.  1  s.  4  d. 

A  master  brickmason  6  "  1  "  0  " 

Servants  and  apprentices  over  18  years  4  "  0  "  8  " 

In  the  year  1684,  the  Freemasons  were  obliged  to  take 
one  shilling  and  four  pence  per  diem,  and  the  penalty 
attached  to  accepting  more  was  an  imprisonment  for 
twent}^-one  days.4  The  operatives'  wages  were  usually  paid 
them  each  day  at  sunset,"  in  the  lodge,  by  the  Pallirer  or 
Warden,  although  the  phraseology  used  in  the  Lansdowne 


1  Kein  meister  sol  den  lohn  absprechen  oder  geringer  machen.  Art.  9. 
Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer  wahren  Bedeutung,  pp.  115,  116. 

2  36  Charles  II.  3  Archceologia,  Vol.  XI.,  p.  203. 

4  Ibid,,  Vol.  XL,  p.  208. 

5  Biograph.  Brit.,  Vol.  X.,  p.  590  ;  Findel,  Geschichte  der  Freimaurerei,  p.  83. 
This  custom  was  evidently  transmitted  to  the  mediaeval  Masons  by  their  By- 
zantine predecessors.  At  the  building  of  Saint  Sophia,  under  Justinian,  the 
workmen  were  paid  each  evening.  Gibbon,  Hist,  of  the  Decl.  and  Fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  86.  This  is  a  very  noteworthy  coincidence,  and 
an  additional  attestation  by  undisputed  history  of  the  antiquity  of  many  old 
Masonic  formularies. 

20* 


231 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


MSS.,1  seems  to  be  susceptible  of  an  interpretation  that 
such  payment  was  made  at  the  close  of  the  week. 

From  the  importance  attached  to  the  duties  of  a  Warden, 
or  Pallirer,  and  the  solemnity  with  which  he  was  invested 
with  his  official  authority,  I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion 
that,  by  the  Master's  direction,  he  was  the  custodian  of  the 
lodge  membership  roll,  and  perhaps  combined  the  powers 
of  a  secretary2  and  disbursing  treasurer,  by  preparing  a  pay- 
list  for  the  workmen,  and,  in  the  prosecution  of  the  pre- 
rogatives incident  to  his  station,  paid  the  craftsmen  their 
wages  at  close  of  day,  which,  during  the  Middle  Ages,  was 
at  sunset. 

Of  all  the  relations  which  existed  among  the  medieval 
craftsmen,  that  relation  of  the  Master  to  the  members  of 
his  lodge  was  unqualifiedly  the  most  important.  These 
lodges,  created  originally  for  convenience  of  operatives 
employed  upon  buildings  in  process  of  construction,  were 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  an  officer  denominated  as  Master, 
who,  not  only  in  all  matters  appertaining  to  the  techni- 
calities and  outlines  of  art,  was  the  arbiter,  but,  in  the 
decision  of  everything  affecting  the  morals  of  his  lodge 
and  its  members,  was  absolute.3  He  was  the  trusted  custo- 
dian of  all  plans  and  diagrams,  in  accordance  with  which 
buildings  were  erected.  It  was  his  duty  and  privilege  to 
select  workmen  necessary  to  execute  details,  and  to  deter- 
mine the  number  of  craftsmen  required  for  certain  work,4 
and  these  were  guided  in  their  labors  by  designs  drawn 
out  by  the  Master's  hand,  as  occasion  demanded,  in  the  pro- 
gress of  labor,  sketched,  perhaps,  on  the  smooth  surface  of 
a  convenient  block, —  of  which  many  diagrams  frequently 

1  u  Ii.  s.  and  vj.  d.  a  week."   Hughan,  Masonic  Charges,  p.  33. 

2  The  guild  of  St.  Leonard,  Lynn,  established  in  1376,  had  a  secretary  or 
clerk,  whose  duty  it  was  to  register  members'  names,  —  this  office  was  by  no 
means  a  common  one.    Smith,  English  Guilds,  p.  50. 

3  Scherr,  Deutsche  Cultur,  p.  161 ;  Fallou,  Myslerien  der  Freimaurer,  p  47. 
*  Scherr,  ut  supra. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


235 


found  on  disjointed  stones,  loosened  from  ruined  walls, 
may  be  taken  as  examples.1  As  an  officer  of  such  trans- 
cendent authority,  approaching  an  autocracy,  especial  care 
was  had  to  make  the  proper  selection  for  a  Master.  It 
was  specifically  ordered  that  no  one  should  be  elected  to 
this  position  unless  he  had  previously  given  satisfactory 
proof  by  his  workmanship  that  he  was  competent  to  pre- 
serve his  employers  from  loss.2  And  in  case  a  candidate 
offered  himself  to  the  builders  who  had  never  assumed  the 
duties  of  the  mastership,  he  was  compelled  to  procure  the 
avouchal  of  two  tried  Masters  touching  his  competency  to 
conduct  architectural  operations,  and  thereupon  he  was 
installed.3  But  when  contracting  parties  designed  the 
erection  of  a  new  and  stately  edifice,  they  selected  a  master, 
and  in  order  to  ascertain  his  proficiency  by  the  ancient 
regulations,  they  were  authorized  to  summon  to  their  aid 
not  less  than  two  nor  more  than  four  master  builders,  who 
were  sworn  to  declare,  upon  their  solemn  oaths,  whether 
the  aspirant  was  sufficiently  skilled  to  be  a  Master.4  When 
patrons  of  the  lodge  selected  a  builder,  who  had  hitherto 
never  acted  in  that  capacity,  to  carry  on  a  work  of  impor- 
tance, in  case  skilled  masters  disapproved  the  choice,  and 
any  damage  resulted  from  his  inefficiency,  neither  the 
Master  nor  Fellows  were  obliged  to  indemnify  the  patrons.5 
If,  under  usual  circumstances,  a  Master  regularly  inducted 
displayed  inability  to  consummate  a  contract  for  labor, 
according  to  lodge  justice,  he  was  mulcted  in  twenty-one 
pounds  of  wax,  in  order  to  redress  the  injury  sustained. 

The  Master  was  obligated  to  rule  and  regulate  the  affairs 
of  his  lodge  in  strict  harmony  with  ancient  usage,  nor  was 

1  Paly,  Manual  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  218. 

*  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen,  A  rt.  3.  3  Ibid.,  Art.  4. 

4  Ibid.,  Art.  5.  This  enactment  fully  coincides  with  the  sworn  syndic  of 
masters  who  passed  upon  the  skill  of  Fellow-craftsmen  aspiring  to  the  position 
of  Master.    Lacroix,  Les  Moeurs  et  Usages  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  314. 

6  Ordinance  of  1462,  Art.  5,  6. 


236 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


he  suffered  to  deviate  from  the  landmarks  of  Masonry ; 
although  the  text  of  the  ordinance  from  which  we  quote 
is  very  obscure*,1  it  would  seem  to  bear  the  interpretation, 
whenever  the  law  of  the  land  clashed  with  established 
Masonic  customs,  he  was  at  liberty  to  modify  the  same  in 
order  to  accord  with  legislative  enactments. 

It  was  a  solemn  duty  to  be  just  and  upright  in  all  secu- 
lar transactions  ;  neither  should  he  injure  a  Warden  or 
Fellow,  nor  oppress  him  by  weight  of  authority.2  This 
regulation  has  descended  to  the  present  time,  and  a  Master 
of  a  lodge  of  Freemasons  is  impressively  warned  to  divest 
his  decisions  and  conduct  of  every  appearance  of  haughty 
pride  or  tyranny.  Another  important  point  touching 
guild  government,  was  also  carefully  insisted  upon. 

By  the  eleventh  article  of  this  valuable  document,  every 
Master  should  preserve  his  lodge  free  from  discord  ;  and, 
what  is  of  greater  significance  for  purposes  of  deeper 
research,  it  was  expressly  enjoined  that  a  lodge  should  be 
as  sacred  as  a  court  of  justice.3  He  was  not  allowed  to 
introduce  into  his  lodge  a  lewd  woman,  and  if  it  happened 
that  a  craftsman  had  aught  to  say  to  her,  he  must  go  as  far 
from  the  lodge  as  a  stroke-hammer  or  mallet  could  be 
hurled.4  This  latter  clause  of  the  article  cited,  contains 
the  substance  of  a  custom  hoary  with  age,  which  had  come 
down  directly  and  without  change  from  the  twilight  of 
Teutonic  civilization  to  the  fifteenth  century.  I  shall 
treat  of  this  subject  at  length  in  connection  with  the 
emblem  of  the  Master's  gavel  or  mallet. 

In  order  that  his  lodge  might  typify  sanctity  and  purity, 

1  Aber  ein  Itzlicher  soil  sein  zeyt  halden  nach  alt  herkomen  gewonheit  des 
landes.    Ordinance  of  1462,  Art.  8. 

2  Ibid.,  Art.  9. 

3  Ein  Itzlicher  Meister  soil  seine  Hiitten  frey  halten  als  das  darinne  kein 
Zweytracht  geschehe,  und  soil  die  Hiitten  also  frey  halten  als  ein  gerichts- 
stadt.    Ibid.,  Art.  11. 

4  Als  man  raocht  gewerffen  mit  einem  scholhamer  von  der  werckstatt. 
Ibid.,  Art.  13. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


237 


the  Master  was  forbidden  to  falsify  or  commit  an  equivocal 
action.1  When  strange  Masters  entered  a  lodge,  they  were 
forced  to  pay  for  such  admission,  each  time,  five  pounds 
of  wax.  The  Fellows,  however,  were  not  compelled  to 
indemnify  the  Master  for  such  breach  of  Masonic  etiquette, 
but  were  expected  to  withdraw  and  forbid  other  craftsmen 
to  obey  intruders  until  purged  from  dereliction.  If  this 
officer  committed  theft,  or  defrauded  a  lodge,  to  the  injury 
of  any  member,  he  was  forthwith  expelled  the  fraternity, 
and  was,  thenceforth,  Masonically  dead.2 

A  severe  caution  was  impressed  upon  Masters  against 
instituting  suit  before  civil  tribunals,  or  causing  it  to  be 
done,  where  a  brother  Mason  was  defendant ;  neither  was 
it  permitted  to  injure  or  slander  their  members, — all  such 
were  promptly  excluded  from  fraternal  association.3  Any 
Pallirer  or  Fellow-craft  convicted  of  offering  bribes  or 
presents  to  his  superior  officer,  in  order  to  be  more  rapidly 
advanced,  forfeited  his  wages  and  was  subject  to  dismissal 
on  Saturday  night  ensuing.4  Neither  could  the  Master  con- 
fer the  grade  of  Fellow  upon  an  apprentice  to  the  trade, 
before  he  had  properly  won  and  deserved  such  advance- 
ment, because,  according  to  the  emphatic  expression  of 
this  venerable  record,  there  shall  be  no  power  conceded  a 
Master  to  shorten  such  term  of  service  by  one  week.5 

Another  official  position  still  recognized  by  the  frater- 

1  Ordnung  1462,  Art.  12.  2  Ibid,,  Art.  16. 

3  Ibid.,  Art.  17.  Xo  regulation  was  more  carefully  adhered  to  than  the  one 
above  noted.  In  England,  nearly  all  returns  made  by  craft  guilds  of  the  year 
1389,  or  earlier,  contain  an  explicit  direction  how  personal  difficulties  should 
be  adjusted  by  arbitration  and  award ;  in  no  case  was  a  member  allowed  an 
action  at  law  under  penalty  of  expulsion  from  the  guild.  Toulman  Smith, 
English  Guilds,  p.  4 ;  Krause,  Die  Drei  celtexten  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  II.,  Abt.  2, 
p.  278.  Wilda  affirms  the  same  custom  among  the  Germans,  Das  GildenWesen 
im  Mittelalter,  p.  338.  The  English  Masonic  rules  permitted  the  parties  to  go 
to  common  law  only  when  no  settlement  could  be  had  by  arbitration.  Vide 
Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Charges,  p.  35. 

4  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  zu  Torgau,  1462,  Art.  20. 

5  Das  steht  dem  meyster  cine  wpche  nicht  zuvor.  Ibid.,  Art.  22. 


238 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


nity  of  Freemasons,  ascends  to  a  high  antiquity,  viz., 
that  of  treasurer.  Each  lodge  selected  a  Fellow-craftsman 
to  administer  the  finances.  This  station  was  filled  by  an 
appointment  of  the  Master  weekly.  It  was  a  part  of  the 
duties  incident  to  the  office,  to  keep  an  accurate  account 
of  all  receipts  and  expenditures.  The  treasurer  evidently 
collected  all  fines  and  dues,  the  first  of  which  were,  no 
doubt,  numerous.  After  his  term  of  office  expired,  upon 
transferring  the  accounts  to  his  successor,  he  was  obliged 
to  state  the  amount  of  treasure  which  he  had  received, 
and  hand  that  over  also  in  the  money-box.1 

It  appears  to  have  been  at  the  Master's  option  whether 
labor  in  lodge  should  be  suspended  during  vesper  service.2 

The  authority  of  a  Master  was  admitted  to  extend  so 
far  as  to  select  a  Pallirer  from  the  apprentices  whose  term 
was  yet  unexpired,  provided  no  damage  would  be  inflicted 
upon  the  patrons  during  the  process  of  construction  by 
such  choice.  This  usage  is  not  inconsistent  with  the 
view  which  has  been  previously  urged  as  the  status  of 
apprentices ;  and,  presuming  that  they  were  thoroughly 
instructed  in  art  knowledge,  it  is  probable  that,  after  the 
lapse  of  several  years,  an  operative  of  this  degree  could  be 
found  among  the  artificers  perfectly  qualified  to  assume 
the  duties  of  a  Warden.  From  this  standpoint  it  is  equally 
clear  that  chances  for  preferment  were  occasionally  opened 
to  apprentices,  and  not  entirely  limited  to  Fellows,  and 
consequently,  if  an  apprentice  were  eligible  to  a  Pallirer's 
station  during  his  term  of  service,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  his  apprenticeship  obliged  him  to  remain  a  silent 
spectator  of  an  active  profession,  or  to  be  confined  to  bare 
rudiments  of  architecture  or  plastic  art.  Moreover,  under 
emergent  circumstances,  one  of  the  few  distinguishing 
privileges  between  him  and  a  Fellow-craftsman  was 
removed — the  possession  of  a  mark,  which  he  was  entitled 


1  Ordnung  1462,  Art.  23. 


2  Ibid.,  Art.  24. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


239 


to  receive,  although  the  term  of  years  for  which  he  was 
indentured  still  continued.  If  it  be,  therefore,  conceded 
that  he  became  the  custodian  of  a  mark,  as  an  Entered 
Apprentice,  he  was  at  liberty  to  travel,  and  to  do  this  it 
was  absolutely  necessary  that  he  should  have  sufficient 
information  to  prove  his  claim  to  enter  strange  lodges. 

As  before  noted,  it  seems  conclusive  that  the  important 
distinction  between  these  humbler  artisans  and  their  Fel- 
lows rested  mainly  upon  the  presumption  that  the  latter, 
in  attaining  to  the  degree  of  Craftsman,  was  invested  with 
the  mystic  key  which  unlocked  the  symbols  of  construc- 
tion, and  endowed  him  with  secret  appliances  by  which  he 
could  combine  the  disjointed  fragments  of  his  skill  into  a 
homogeneous  whole.  A  Master  was  earnestly  enjoined  not 
to  underrate  the  work  of  another,  nor  act  unjustly  towards 
the  brethren  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  law.1  No  one 
should  be  assisted  by  him  officially  who  evinced  a  roguish 
disposition,  or  was  an  impostor  in  word  or  action  ;  and  in 
case  the  persons  in  question  betrayed  a  brutish  character, 
the  Master  was  empowered  to  dispose  of  them  as  with 
delinquent  Fellows.2 

"Whenever  a  Master,  in  private  business,  borrowed  money, 
and  failed  to  refund  the  loan  upon  request,  he  was  held  to 
be  degraded,  and  adjudged  refractory,  which  usually  en- 
tailed a  loss  of  mastership.3  In  cases  of  this  nature  the 
creditor  might  proceed  to  have  the  matter  investigated 
upon  charges  or  complaint,  and  the  Master,  or  Pallirer, 
neglecting,  within  a  stated  period,  to  liquidate  his  debt, 
was  immediately  declared  guilty  of  unmasonic  conduct, 
and  thenceforth  debarred  from  fraternal  intercourse  or 
assistance.4 

1  Ordnung  vom  Y.  1462,  Art.  32 ;  Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer  wahren  Be- 
deutung,  p.  122. 

2  Ordnung,  ut  supra,  Art.  33. 

3  The  consequences  of  this  were  serious,  and  effectually  severed  his  con- 
nection from  the  craft.  See  Wilda,  Das  GildenWesen  im  Mittelalter,  p.  336  ;  and 
Lacroix,  Lcs  Moeurs  et  Usages  an  Moyen  Age,  p.  317. 

4  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  zu  Torgau,  Art.  34. 


240 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


Masters  were  rigidly  forbidden  to  defraud  or  supplant 
each  other  in  their  work  j1  if,  however,  the  builder  deserted 
or  abandoned  his  labor  in  favor  of  another,  in  such  case  it 
was  considered  a  subrogation  without  fraud ;  but  all  re- 
linquishment of  lodge  work,  in  defiance  of  ordinances  or 
accepted  landmarks,  subjected  the  Master  to  expulsion  from 
the  craft  by  his  associate  builders.2 

The  section  cited  in  the  margin,  and  taken  from  the 
Torgau  enactment,  opens  a  question  touching  the  number 
of  master  architects  presiding  over  lodges  erected  in  the 
vicinity  of  sacred  edifices  in  the  process  of  construction. 
The  inference  is  clear  and  direct,  from  the  articles  quoted, 
that  each  cathedral,  or  other  large  structure,  during  the 
Middle  Ages,  was  surrounded  by  several  lodges  of  Masons, 
over  which  a  separate  and  independent  Master  and  Pallirer 
possessed  an  undisputed  and  exclusive  jurisdiction.  Docu- 
mentary evidence  of  this  position  is  furnished  by  Marchese,3 
who  states  that  Fra  Guglielmo  Pisano  worked  in  a  lodge 
of  stonecutters  and  sculptors, —  assuming  that  other  lodges 
were  regularly  organized  around  the  minster.  The  general 
import  of  the  regulations  of  1254  also  warrants  this  con- 
clusion. 

It  was  well  established  by  immemorial  custom,  if  one 
Master  vilified  or  injured  another  by  word  or  act,  which, 


1  Halliwell  MSS.,  17  Al,  Art.  10.  In  this  the  English  manuscripts  agree 
with  the  German  regulations.  Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer  wahren  Bedeu- 
tung,  p.  122. 

2  Ordnung,  ut  supra,  Art.  35.  The  phraseology  used  is  as  follows :  "  So  sollen 
In  die  anderen  meister  verwerffen."  In  all  cases  wherein  a  Master  was  put 
to  his  proofs,  it  was  an  absolute  necessity  that  two  other  Masters  should  be 
present.  When  complaint  was  made  that  such  officer  had  transgressed  his 
obligations  to  the  craft,  according  to  Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Freimaurer,  p.  47, 
a  sort  of  Deputy  General  or  Grand  Master,  designated  ein  Zirkelmeister, 
summoned  two  Masters  of  lodges  to  adjudicate  upon  the  grievances  charged. 
See  Krause,  Die  Drei  celtesten  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  II.,  Ab.  2,  pp.  280-281. 

3  Vie  dei  Piltori  e  Architetti,  Tomo  L,  p.  90 :  Loggi  destinata  agli  scultori  e 
agli  scarpellini. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


241 


upon  investigation,  proved  to  be  unwarranted,  he  was  forth- 
with expelled  the  fraternity.1  And  whenever  his  incom- 
petency to  continue  or  complete  a  work  on  which  he  was 
engaged,  manifested  itself,  and  outside  assistance  became 
essential  to  terminate  the  contract,  this  was  sufficient  cause 
for  dismissal.2 

A  Mastership  carried  with  it  almost  unlimited  powers 
as  incident  to  the  station ;  and  it  was  in  strict  harmony 
with  prerogative  to  withhold  advancement  or  assistance 
from  members  or  brethren  of  the  lodges  whose  private 
lives  were  not  above  reproach.  The  Master  was  at  liberty 
to  refuse  the  customary  craft  privileges  to  a  Fellow  who 
belied  or  assailed  the  character  of  tiis  brother,  or  who 
associated  with  public  women,  and  addressed  improper 
language  to  the  maidens  at  taverns,  or  in  the  house  where 
he  happened  to  be,  or  otherwise  deported  himself  inde- 
cently. A  craftsman  failing  to  attend  confessional  should 
be  discharged,  and  branded  as  an  evil-doer.3  Other  duties 
devolved  on  the  Master  upon  his  accession  to  office,  and,  in 
addition  to  those  noted,  he  had  the  authority  of  petty 
justice  in  the  lodge. 

*  1  It  will  be  understood,  before  such  penalty  could  be  enforced,  it  was  indis- 
pensable that  judgment  should  have  been  rendered  by  two  Masters,  in  con- 
junction with  the  District  Deputy,  making  three  in  all. 
2  Ordnung.  cit,  Art.  37.  3  Ibid.,  Art.  38. 

21  Q 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Relative  Duties  of  Masonic  Craftsmen  —  Shall  be  Upright  and 
True  to  each  Other  —  Must  Respect  the  Romish  Church  — Not 
Compelled  to  be  Affiliated  —  Certificate  of  Membership  — 
Contracts  Terminate  on  St.  John's  Day  —  Dangerous  Weapons 
Excluded  from  Lodge — Slander  Forbidden —  General  or  Grand 
Master  —  Master  of  the  Work  ?  —  None  to  Leave  Lodge  with- 
out Permission  —  Sick  Brethren  Assisted. 

HE  old  Torgau  ordinances  contain  many  minute 
regulations  for  the  general  and  specific  conduct  of 
the  Fellows,  which  clearly  illustrate  the  source 
whence  were  drawn  those  powers  still  recognized 
to  be  inherent  in  organized  bodies  of  modern  Freemasons. 
A  craftsman  who  slandered  a  brother  Mason  with  contu- 
melious words  while  in  lodge,  was  compelled  to  make 
satisfaction  by  a  fine  of  twelve  kreutzers.1  The  members 
were  carefully  enjoined  against  the  introduction  of  dis- 
reputable women  into  their  lodges  or  workshops,  nor  should 
they  produce  such  characters  before  a  convocation  of  Mas- 
ters, under  a  penalty  of  four  pounds  of  wax.2  If  an  opera- 
tive labored  on  days  regarded  as  sacred,  especially  if  it 
were  deemed  his  duty  to  attend  prayers,  he  was  placed 
under  the  ban  of  ecclesiastical  censure,  and,  as  a  punish- 
ment, forfeited  his  right  to  receive  further  Masonic  instruc- 
tion from  the  Master. 


1  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen,  cit.}  Art.  70. 


2  Ibid.,  Art.  82. 
242 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


243 


The  old  adage,  that  "  he  who  works  not  shall  not  eat," 
was  strikingly  exemplified  among  the  mediaeval  Masons, 
because,  by  the  ancient  rule,1  a  stonecutter  absenting  him- 
self, without  leave,  from  labor  in  the  lodge,  after  breakfast, 
was  allowed  no  wages  for  that  part  of  the  day  ;  and  in  case 
of  absence  during  the  entire  hours  of  work,  although  he 
appeared  at  the  sunset  roll-call,  and  before  the  evening 
meal,  his  wages  for  that  day  were  refused. 

According  to  a  charter2 granting  the  weavers3  at  Etampes, 
in  France,  certain  immunities,  among  other  concessions  it 
was  agreed  that  the  guild  should  have  authority  to  regulate 
the  duration  of  daily  labor,  and  for  this  purpose  an  enact- 
ment required  that  this  class  of  artisans  should  commence 
and  quit  work  at  regular  stated  hours.  This  harmonizes 
with  the  article  cited,  refusing  compensation  to  indolent 
or  negligent  craftsmen,  and  an  additional  attestation  that, 
in  conformity  to  usual  custom,  a  specific  time  was  fixed  for 
operative  stonemasons  to  begin  and  close  their  daily  avo- 
cation. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  underlying  and  modifying 
religious  principles  of  a  mediaeval  lodge,  there  can  be  no 
controversy  upon  the  assumption  that,  so  far  as  external 
appearances  went,  each  member  was  compelled  to  show  his 
subjection  to  the  established  church,  and  to  adhere  to  its 
usages.  It  is  a  noticeable  fact,  that  it  devolved  upon  the 
Master  to  excuse  the  delinquency  of  his  craftsman  in  failing 
to  respect  the  craft  ordinances  which  regulated  this  phase 
of  fraternal  association,  and  any  Fellow  remaining  away 
from  high  mass  on  Sunday,  or  other  great  festival  days, 
without  leave,  was  required  to  redress  such  negligence  by 
a  payment  of  four  kreutzers  for  divine  service.4 

1  Ibid.,  Art.  84. 

2  Guizot,  Histoire  de  la  Civilization  en  France,  Tome  IV.,  p.  331. 

3  There  was  a  very  old  guild  of  this  trade  established  in  Florence,  which 
seems  to  have  had  like  powers.  Depping,  Histoire  du  Commerce  au  Moyen  Age, 
Tome  I.,  p.  227 ;  also,  Tome  II.,  p.  324. 

*  Ordnung  vom  Y.  1462,  Art.  85.    It  is  absolutely  impossible  to  conceive 


244 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


"No  Fellow-craftsman  was  compelled  to  continue  his  mem- 
bership in  a  designated  lodge  of  Masons,  longer  than  his 
convenience  or  profit  demanded ;  he  could  at  any  moment 
withdraw  from  his  assembled  brethren,  and  the  edifice  on 
which  they  were  employed,  in  order  to  travel  elsewhere, 
with  the  permission  of  his  Master,  and  it  was  specifically 
regulated  that  such  severance  might  be  at  night  or  even- 
ing when  wages  were  paid ;  but  no  operative,  applying  to 
the  Master  for  his  demission,  should  obtain  it  unless  he 
parted  without  anger  towards  the  officers,  and  freed  from 
fraternal  obligations  which  precluded  departure.1  He  was 
also  entitled  to  demand  and  receive  a  certificate  of  mem- 
bership, so  that  his  travelling  and  acceptance  among 
strange  brethren  might  be  facilitated.2 

All  contracts  for  labor  entered  into  by  the  Fellows  with 
a  Master  for  winter  service  should  not  terminate  until 
Saint  John's  day  ensuing,  at  which  time,  however,  if  ill 
feelings  threatened  to  destroy  that  thorough  peace  and 
harmony  among  the  craft  which  were  essential  to  healthy 
trade,  he  was  at  liberty  to  go.  If  a  companion  Mason 
became  at  any  time  cognizant  of  aught  dishonorable  to 
his  Master,  and  failed  to  divulge  it,  during  winter  and 

that  the  Freemasons  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  untinctured  by  the  Romish 
church.  No  doubt,  the  appliances  and  symbols  of  lodge  ritual  were  used 
without  hindrance  from  the  ecclesiastics,  but,  so  far  as  religious  influence  and 
clerical  authority  were  concerned,  this  guild  of  artificers  was  subjected  to 
church  discipline.  In  many  countries,  fraternities  were  perpetuated  solely 
depending  upon  mediaeval  Christian  ideas,  as,  for  instance,  saying  masses  for 
the  souls  of  deceased  brethren,  Smith,  English  Guilds,  p.  74,  or  to  provide 
lights  for  church  altars,  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen,  p.  346. 

1  Ordinance,  ut  supra,  Art.  87,  88. 

2  This  was  a  practice  common  to  many  guilds.  These  certificates  were 
usually  prepared  by  the  clerk  or  secretary,  and  signed  by  the  Master  and 
Wardens,  and  attested  by  the  communal  seal.  Wilda,  op.  cit.,  p.  119.  So 
late  as  the  year  1801,  such  testimonials  of  membership  were  expected  to  be 
produced  by  visitors  to  French  lodges.  Regulateur  du  Magon,  p.  18  (grade 
d'Apprenti).  See,  further,  Fallou,  Die  Mysterien  der  Freimaurer,  p.  121,  and 
Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer  wahren  Bedeutung,  pp.  71-73. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


245 


summer,  he  was  branded  as  a  faithless  and  unworthy 
brother.1  All  members  were  forbidden  to  work  with  a 
craftsman  who  had  procured  work  by  bribing  a  Pallirer  or 
Master ;  nor  could  a  Fellow-craft  render  aid  to  another  for 
money,  but  the  person  receiving  the  assistance  might 
donate  him  a  trilling  gift  as  a  mark  of  appreciation.  In 
every  respect  lodge  regulations  must  be  enforced,  to  secure 
steady  and  uninterrupted  progress  of  building  operations, 
and  no  craftsman  was  tolerated  who  opposed  the  Master 
or  Warden's  orders.2 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  duty  of  these  officers,  to 
maintain  harmony  among  the  operatives  while  at  work  in 
lodge.  In  accordance  with  this  idea,  all  useless  and  dan- 
gerous implements  were  rigidly  excluded,  or,  if  admitted 
at  all,  should  conform  to  specified  rules.  This  regulation 
alone  furnishes  a  valuable  appendix  to  the  history  of 
morals  and  customs  of  the  Middle  Ages.  It  was  enacted 
that  no  companion  Mason  should  carry  a  knife,  or  other 
weapon,  over  half  an  ell  in  length,  with  him  into  the  lodge, 
nor  wear  the  same  at  banquets.  This  will  afford  satis- 
factory evidence  of  the  restrictive  morality  of  mediaeval 
Masons.  If,  however,  the  implements  were  longer  than 
the  prescribed  measurement,  he  was  compelled  to  pay  a 
penalty  of  seven  kreutzers,  and  divest  himself  of  it  at 
once.3 

The  essential  characteristic  of  lodge  government,  peace 
and  quiet,  is  well  represented  in  the  rigid  exclusion  of  all 


1  Bey  dem  soil  kein  gesell  stehen.    Ordnung,  cit.,  1462,  Art.  89. 

2  It  was  obligatory  upon  the  fraternity  to  inform  the  officers  of  all  things 
affecting  their  characters,  or  that  of  the  work.  Plot,  Natural  History  of  Staf- 
fordshire, $  85-8.  Like  rule  among  secular  guilds.  Smith,  English  Guilds, 
p.  317. 

3  Do  soli  kein  gesell  messer  oder  andere  were  bey  Im  trogen  in  werkstatten 
oder  in  Zechen,  den  ein  messer  der  halben  ellen  long  sey,  was  es  langer  ist  so 
soil  er  vii.  kr.  geben  zu  pusse  und  ist  gleichwol  ablegen.  Ord.}  cit,  Art.  93 ; 
Stieglitz,  Ueber  die  Kirche  zu  Rochlitz,  p.  48. 

21* 


246 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


weapons  that  might  disturb  the  uniform  harmony  neces- 
sary to  good  workmanship.1 

The  old  German  constitutions  agree  with  the  English 
charges  in  a  decided  prohibition  to  the  Fellows  from  back- 
biting their  Masters  or  Wardens,  and  under  all  circum- 
stances it  was  the  duty  of  a  craftsman  to  reveal  that  which 
jeopardized  his  superior's  honor.2 

A  curious  insight  into  the  practical  operations  of  lodge 
work  during  the  presiding  officer's  absence,  is  afforded  by 
the  Torgau  ordinance.  The  craft  were  enjoined  against 
slandering  or  speaking  evil  of  the  master  superintending 
the  edifice ;  but  in  case  both  Master  and  Pallirer  were 
absent,  the  Fellows  should  cheerfully  obey  his  directions. 
From  this  clause  it  would  seem  that  every  important  work 
had  the  supervisory  attention  of  a  Master  of  more  enlarged 
powers,  and  who  had  undisputed  control  of  the  fraternity 
whenever  the  regular  officers  were  not  present,  but  the 
nature  of  his  functions  does  not  clearly  appear.  "  Bau- 
meister  "  is  the  word  designating  such  person,  and  corre- 


1  This  element  was  an  integral  portion  of  the  internal  structure  of  all  guilds, 
but  especially  that  of  Freemasons  or  Steinmetzen.  Frith-borh  was  an  associ- 
ation organized  at  an  early  period  of  Saxon  government,  upon  the  basis  of 
peace  and  harmony.  Lucy  Toulman  Smith,  Preface  to  English  Guilds,  p.  xxi. 
Already,  in  Anglo-Saxon  times,  such  corporations  are  mentioned  in  and 
around  Canterbury.  Turner,  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  Vol.  II.,  p.  107. 
According  to  a  citation  by  Wilda,  Has  G Helen  Wesen  des  Mittelalters,  p.  245, 
from  Wilkins,  Legg.  Angl.-Sax.,  p.  67,  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  these  guilds 
were  the  maintenance  of  peace  and  concord  among  the  members,  and  also  to 
protect  each  other  by  mutual  friendships  which  involved  mutual  enmities : 
"on  annen  freondscype  oththe  feondscipe."  Particular  care  was  taken  that 
no  unseemly  quarrels  should  interfere  with  social  enjoyment  at  banquets  held 
after  the  performance  of  initiatory  rites.  Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Freimaurer,  p. 
60. 

2  Under  the  English  regulations,  the  apprentice  was  sworn  to  be  true  to  his 
Master  in  all  things.  Harl.  MSS.,  No.  2054,  charge  1 ;  Halliwell  MSS.,  Pars. 
14.  The  York  manuscript  directs  that:  "ye  shall  be  true  to  ye  Lord  or 
Master  yu  serve,  and  truly  see  his  pfitt  and  advantage."  Vide  Hughan,  Old 
Masonic  Charges,  p.  36,  et  seq.;  Ordinance  of  1462,  Art.  95. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


247 


sponds  to  an  architect.1  It  is  by  no  means  improbable,  that 
this  artist  may  have  possessed  a  general  superintendence 
of  the  work  as  applied  to  construction  of  buildings  ;  for 
instance,  to  see  that  material,  when  wrought  out  in  the 
various  lodges  surrounding  the  edifice,  was  adjusted  in 
conformity  to  architectural  plans.  When  it  is  considered 
that  operative  Masons  labored  in  lodges  under  the  direc- 
tion of  a  Master  or  Warden,  who  was  necessarily  entrusted 
with  a  critical  scrutiny  of  each  fragment  of  material,  and 
expected  to  give  suitable  instruction  touching  its  artistic 
preparation,  sound  judgment  would  seem  to  dictate  that 
the  structure  itself  would  require  the  superintendence  of 
a  general  architect,  deeply  skilled  in  the  traditions  of 
Masonic  government,  and  equally  accomplished  in  abstruse 
geometric  problems,  who  could  quickly  determine  ques- 
tions, in  conjunction  with  two  other  builders,  affecting  a 
Master's  prerogative,  and  also  be  able  to  properly  adjust 
elegantly-wrought  stones  according  to  architectural  dia- 
grams. But  this  supervising  artist  under  no  other  circum- 
stances than  those  noted,  came  directly  in  contact  with 
the  craft ;  on  the  contrary,  it  was  ordered,  whenever  the 
Master  or  Pallirer  was  present  and  governing  his  lodge,  that 
all  communications  and  complaints,  or  demands  for  assist- 
ance from  the  workmen,  should  be  made  to  either  of  the 
foregoing  officers.2  Stieglitz  has  adopted  a  system  of 
numbering  the  articles  of  the  Torgau  ordinance  which 
renders  unintelligible  an  important  fact.  For  example,  in 
the  first  clause  of  No.  96,  the  Master  and  Warden  being 
absent,  lodge  details  devolved  upon  the  Baumeister,  or 
General  Master ;  while  in  section  97  of  the  edition  noted, 
the  following  regulation  occurs,  which,  taken  separately,  is 
obscure  and  meaningless  :  "  Eo  Fellow  shall  enter  a  com- 

1  "  Baumeister"  was  freely  used  during  the  early  Middle  Ages  to  signify 
both  an  architect  or  building  master,  and  an  officer  who  took  precedence  in 
many  fraternities.    Wilda,  ut  supra,  pp.  214-216 ;  vide  Ordnung  1462,  Art.  96. 

2  Ordnung,  cit,  1462,  Art.  96. 


248 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


plaint  to  the  architect  ( Baumeister )  against  another 
craftsman,  but  such  charge  shall  be  made  to  the  master  of 
the  work  (Werkmeister)."  We  shall  hereafter  explain, 
when  a  Master's  judicial  prerogatives  are  examined,  that 
all  cases  of  accusation  arising  among  the  fraternity  must 
be  adjudicated  by  him.  Here,  therefore,  seems  to  be  a 
collision  of  authority  between  the  Master  of  a  lodge  and 
a  master  of  the  work.  When,  however,  the  sections  under 
discussion  are  collated  and  read  together  in  a  connected 
form,  the  idea  intended  to  be  conveyed,  is :  in  case  both 
Master  and  Warden  were  absent,  and  a  just  cause  of  accusa- 
tion made  it  imperative  that  the  matter  should  be  imme- 
diately investigated,  the  Fellow  aggrieved  was  obliged  to 
prefer  his  charge,  not  to  the  Baumeister  or  architect,  but 
to  the  master  of  the  work  ( Werkmeister ) .  The  same 
intention  manifests  in  an  injunction  against  the  Baumeis- 
ter attempting  to  settle  difficulties  among  the  craft,  of  a 
less  grave  character,  in  the  absence  of  their  officers,  who 
were  to  adjust  all  such  inharmonious  clashing  upon  resum- 
ing the  lodge  mallet  or  gavel.1 

A  question  now  confronts  us  touching  the  Werkmeister, 
or  workmaster,  and  what  was  his  position  in  this  craft 
guild  toward  subordinate  Masters,  and  what  were  the 
duties  and  powers  appurtenant  to  his  station?  To  this 
the  answer  is  by  no  means  an  easy  one,  inasmuch  as  it  is 
barely  inferable  that  the  Werkmeister  stood  to  the  fra- 
ternity of  builders  an  acknowledged  local  Grand  Master, 
having  jurisdiction  over  the  several  lodges  of  Masons  at 
work  upon  large  edifices ;  although  the  authority  which 
he  seems  to  have  wielded  makes  it  credible  that  he  was 
endowed  with  higher  powers  than  those  of  a  "  Bauherr," 
Baumeister,  or  architect,  or  the  Master  of  a  lodge.  From 
the  palpable  signification  conveyed  by  the  ordinance  con- 
stituting Masonic  tribunals,  it  is  clear  that  the  Werk- 


1  Ordhung,  cit,  Art.  98. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


249 


meister  possessed  prerogatives  usually  attributed  to  a 
Grand  Master.  It  will  be  seen,  presently,  that  all  troubles 
demanding  an  adjustment  between  Masters  of  various 
lodges  were,  in  the  first  instance,  submitted  to  him  by  the 
Bauherr,  architect ;  but  whether  he  had  the  recognized 
authority,  conceded  hj  enactment  or  immemorial  usage, 
to  proceed  at  once  to  decide  such  difficulties,  does  not 
clearly  appear,  although  it  is  presumable  that  such  was 
his  power.  As  previously  urged,  when  the  lodge  officers 
were  detained  elsewhere,  and  any  grievance  arose  among 
the  Fellows,  the  injured  parties  were  forbidden  to  produce 
their  complaint  before  the  Bauherr,  or  Baumeister,  but 
were  necessitated  to  bring  the  same  to  the  Werkmeister's 
attention. 

In  this  regulation  alone,  a  higher  power  is  recognized, 
as  vested  in  the  person  designated,  than  belonged  to  either 
the  supervising  architect  or  to  Masters  of  lodges,  where 
the  cause  of  complaint  did  not  arise.  No  architect  was  at 
liberty  to  use  a  craftsman  for  any  work,  unless  with  his 
Master's  consent  ;l  neither  could  the  Fellows  engage  in 
labor,  which  other  operatives  were  detailed  to  perform, 
under  the  superintendent's  orders. 

For  a  craftsman,  or  Pallirer,  to  receive  wages  not  his 
due,  secretly,  or,  as  the  ordinance  rigorously  expresses  it, 
"  behind  the  Master's  back,"  was  a  grave  offence,  and  the 
Master  could  immediately  punish  the  misdemeanor,  because 
his  authority  to  regulate  and  control  all  matters  pertain- 
ing to  a  Fellow's  pay  was  specifically  recognized.2  The 
ensuing  regulation  evinces  the  thoroughly  practical  nature 
of  the  mediaeval  Masonic  lodges.  No  craftsman  should  go 
to  the  Latrina  in  company  with  another,  but  seriatim?  in 

1  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  vom  Yahre  1462,  Art.  99.        2  Ibid.,  Art.  102. 

3  Auch  soli  kein  gesell  rait  dem  anderen  auff  das  perfeten  gehen  sondern 
einer  nach  dem  andern.  Ibid.,  Art.  103.  See  Brentano,  History  of  the  Origin 
and  Development  of  Guilds,  p.  cxliv.,  for  some  excellent  suggestions  concerning 
this  constitution. 


250 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


order  "  that  the  lodge  might  not  be  wanting  in  workmen, " 
and  in  case  he  found  another  operative  there,  he  was 
obliged  to  produce  him  in  the  lodge  during  such  tempo- 
rary absence,  under  a  fine  of  two  kreutzers. 

One  peculiar  custom  touching  craft  regulations  during 
the  hours  of  labor  has  descended  to  our  day  in  its  original 
force.  It  is  usual,  at  the  present  time,  to  permit  members, 
when  within  the  tiled  recesses  of  a  lodge,  to  depart  only 
with  the  Master's  expressed  consent.  This  rule  was 
adopted,  with  stringency,  by  the  mediseval  Freemasons ; 
by  the  Torgau  ordinance,  no  Fellow  was  allowed  to  leave  the 
lodge  without  permission  of  his  Master.1  Craftsmen  were 
enjoined  against  applying  their  skill  to  anything  not  imme- 
diately connected  with  regular  lodge  work  ;  neither  were 
they  allowed  to  use  material  for  other  purposes  than  those 
sanctioned  by  the  presiding  officers ;  otherwise,  whatever 
damage  was  sustained,  the  Master  became  responsible,2  and 
must  make  good. 

Like  all  mediaeval  guilds,  whenever  a  member,  through 
sickness  or  other  circumstances,  was  unable  to  support  him- 
self, he  was  entitled  to  relief  from  lodge  funds,  and  upon 
the  return  of  health  or  fortune,  he  could  be  compelled  to 
refund  the  expenditures.3 

1  Kein  gesell  was  machen  oder  aus  der  Hiitten  gehen  ane  laube  des  meisters. 
Ordnung  der  Sleinmetzen,  cit,  Art.  104. 

2  Ibid.  "  Every  Mason  shall  truly  serve  the  lodge  for  his  pay."  Grand 
Lodge  MSS.,  in  Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Charges,  p.  46. 

3  Ibid.,  105.  By  a  regulation  of  the  Garlekhith  Guild,  London,  instituted 
in  1375,  any  brother  in  necessitous  circumstances,  by  old  age,  poverty,  etc., 
who  had  been  a  member  of  the  fraternity  for  seven  years,  was  to  receive  14f/. 
a  week  during  "terme  of  his  lyfe,  but  he  be  recouvered  of  his  mischief."  St. 
Katherine's  Guild  allowed  lid.  weekly  to  each  member  who,  "  throw  fur  or 
water,  theves  or  sykness,  or  any  other  happes,  "  was  unable  to  assist  himself. 
Smith,  English  Guilds,  pp.  5,  6.  The  statutes  of  St.  Canute,  \  25,  quoted  by 
Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen,  p.  123,  directed  members  to  watch  at  the  bedside 
of  a  sick  or  infirm  brother,  and,  in  case  of  death,  should  follow  his  body  to 
the  grave.  Loss  of  goods  by  fire  or  shipwreck  was  indemnified.  An  integral 
element  of  the  ancient  Icelandic  constitution  also  compensated  for  such  loss 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


251 


All  operative  stonemasons  were  solemnly  urged  to 
adhere  closely  to  these  rules,  so  that  the  profession  might 
not  be  injured.  If,  however,  grave,  infractions  occurred, 
whereby  losses  were  incurred,  such  fines  as  were  assessed 
for  delinquencies  went  into  the  corporation  treasury. 

—  a  guarantee  in  the  nature  of  a  fire  or  marine  insurance.  An  association  of 
citizens,  not  less  than  twenty,  —  designated  a  Repp,  —  upon  complaint  of  a 
member  that  he  had  been  injured  by  the  foregoing  casualties,  assembled  and 
heard  the  proofs  of  damage.  If  the  allegations  of  loss  were  substantiated,  an 
assessment  of  six  per  cent,  ad  valorem  was  made  on  the  associate  members' 
property  to  redress  the  damage  sustained.  Dahlmann,  Geschichte  von  Ddnne- 
mark,  Bd.  II.,  pp.  276-282.  Si  quis  confratorum  nostrorum  gildae,  in  de- 
crepitam  aetatem  aut  paupertatem  inciderti,  seu  in  morbum  incurabilem,  de 
proprio  non  habuerit,  unde  possit  sustineri,  seu  sustentari ;  relevetur  secundum 
aestimationem,  et  dispositionem  Aldermanni,  etc.  Houard,  Traites  sur  les 
(Joutumes  Anglo-Normandes,  Tome  II.,  pp.  467,  487,  cap.  ix. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


Powers  Incident  to  the  Master's  Position  —  Prerogative  as 
Supreme  Arbiter  —  Petty  Justice  Recognized  —  The  Tools  op 
a  Rebellious  Craftsman  Liable  to  Seizure — Civil  Authority 
Invoked — Masonic  Tribunals  Imitated  after  Royal  Courts  — 
Jurisdiction  of  Grand  and  Subordinate  Bodies — Annual  Con- 
vocations—  Masonic  Court:  how  Constituted  —  Wardens  Pre- 
side —  Penalty  for  Disclosing  Craft  Arcana. 


~N  the  numerous  articles  which  have  been  cited 
from  the  ordinance  of  1462,  a  strong  moralistic 
tendency,  underlying  lodge  mechanism,  is  clearly 
visible.     A  constant  effort  was  made  to  infuse 


the  daily  life  and  vocation  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  with 
principles  of  rectitude  towards  each  other  and  to  all  men, 
so  that  by  carefully  acting  upon  these  instructions  the 
moral  dignity  of  the  craft  should  be  elevated. 

A  lodge,  during  the  Middle  Ages,  possessed  the  necessary 
appliances  to  render  this  object  effective,  both  through 
wondrous  and  venerable  symbols,  and  by  means  of  the 
stern  powers  inherent  in  the  Master's  station.  His  posi- 
tion was  one  of  great  authority,  as  previously  stated,  and 
in  order,  satisfactorily,  to  execute  the  plans  which  were  to 
typify  the  magnitude  of  divinity  and  the  grandeur  of  the  liv- 
ing God,  such  prerogatives  were  conceded,  both  by  tangible 
written  law  and  by  immemorial  usage.  In  the  practical 
operations  of  lodge  work,  he  was  invested  with  high  judi- 
cial power  to  adjust  and  settle  promptly  all  disputes  arising 

252 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  253 


among  the  artificers,  and  the  more  readily  to  accomplish 
this,  bailiffs  were  oftentimes  selected  to  assist  the  Master.1 

The  ordinance  of  the  year  1254,  by  royal  concession, 
recognized  in  the  Master  of  Masons  a  power  of  petty 
justice,  including  a  limited  penal  authority  over  the  craft, 
Fellows,  and  apprentices2 — subject  to  revocation  by  the 
king.  It  was  specified  that  a  Master's  jurisdiction  in 
France  should  extend  merely  to  expulsion  from  the  society, 
and  to  corporeal  punishment  where  no  blood  was  drawn.3 

The  judicial  right  of  clameur  was  conceded  him,  provided, 
however,  the  judgment  did  not  extend  to  deprivation  of 
property.4  The  Master  possessing  jurisdiction  over  the  fra- 
ternity of  stonecutters,  could  demand  an  amendment  for  set- 
tlement of  each  quarrel  between  the  workmen ;  and  in  case 
the  craftsman,  upon  whom  devolved  the  usual  payment  as 
a  penalty  for  the  transgression,  failed  to  comply,  or  was 
recalcitrant,  the  Master  was  empowered  to  suspend  him 
from  the  trade.5  If  the  artificer  still  maintained  his 
haughty  and  insubordinate  disposition,  after  having  been 
interdicted  from  a  use  of  the  handicraft,  and  continued  to 
pursue  his  usual  vocation,  as  a  severer  punishment  his 
working  tools  were  seized  and  retained  until  satisfaction 
was  made.  When  a  Mason  openly  defied,  and  with  vio- 
lence resisted,  this  levy,  the  Master  was  authorized  to 
lodge  information  with  the  city  provost.  This  officer 
then  brought  the  civic  forces  to  execute  the  Masonic 
award.6    Parisian  craftsmen,  in  the  year  1254,  were  fre- 

1  Scherr,  Deutsche  Cultur,  p.  161. 

2  Boileau,  Reglemens  des  Metiers,  cap.  xlviii. 

3  Le  mestre  du  mestier  a  la  petite  justice  .  .  .  .  et  de  bateurs  sanz  sane. 
Ibid.    See  Lacroix,  Les  Moeurs  et  Usages  au  Moyen  Age,  pp.  314-5. 

*  Joustice  de  clameur  hors  raise  la  clameur  de  propriete.  Boileau,  Sur  les 
Metiers  de  Paris,  cap.  48.  For  a  learned  dissertation  of  powers  involved  in  this 
clameur,  see  Depping,  Histoire  des  Expeditions  Maritimes  des  Normands,  p.  427, 
note  xi. 

5  Boileau,  Reglemens  des  Metiers,  cap.  xlviii. 

6  Ibid.,  loc.  cit.    In  nearly  every  instance  the  weight  of  civil  authority  con- 

22 


254  THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 

qucntly  organized  into  syndics  or  sworn  courts,  to  deter- 
mine appraisements  of  taxation  values  affixed  to  craft 
property.1 

A  few  years  later,  about  1275,  Rudolph  I.,  emperor  of 
Germany,  conceded  the  lodges  of  Strassburg,  for  the  first 
time  apparently,  then  organized  into  a  grand  body,  among 
other  privileges,  the  right  of  administering  to  their  mem- 
bers such  justice  as  was  requisite  for  good  government. 

In  order  that  work  upon  large  edifices  might  proceed 
uninterruptedly,  it  was  essential  that  extraordinary 
authority  should  be  delegated  to  the  Master's  discretion, 
and,  as  a  consequence  of  this  investiture,  his  lodge  was 
controlled  with  powers  incident  to  a  judge  presiding  in  a 
court  of  justice.  Order  and  submission,  peace  and  har- 
mony, were  the  cohesive  elements  uniting  the  fraternity 
of  mediaeval  builders,  and  gave  solidity  and  consistency  to 
their  architecture,  and  effectiveness  to  their  plans.  As 
we  shall  presently  see,  a  lodge  in  its  details  presented 
numerous  points  of  exact  similitude  with  a  civil  tribunal. 

With  the  powers  alluded  to,  it  was  not  difficult  for  a 
Master  to  restrain  diversified  individual  opinions,  and 
pacify  occasional  irritations  incident  to  all  social  inter- 
course. Little  information  can  be  gleaned  touching  the 
constituent  parts  of  the  stonecutters'  courts,  from  other 
sources  than  the  Ordinance  of  1462.  This  document  fur- 
nishes us  with  a  detailed  description  of  their  construction. 

Two  systems  of  judicature  were  in  vogue  among  the 
Masons  of  the  Middle  Ages,  subsequent,  it  appears,  to  the 

firmed  the  official  decisions  of  guilds.  See  Brentano,  Hist,  and  Development 
of  Guilds,  p.  cxxvi.,  and  Toulman  Smith,  English  Guilds,  pp.  416-420.  Wilda, 
Das  Gilden  Wesen,  p.  318,  says  no  principle  of  government  was  better  recog- 
nized than  that  which  admitted  secular  penal  powers  to  interfere  for  the 
purpose  of  enforcing  guildic  judgments,  with  exemplary  punishment.  This 
is  most  unequivocally  conceded  by  HalliwelPs  MSS.,  Royal  17  Al,  Punctus 
15,  as  follows: 

"  The  scheref  schal  come  hem  sone  to, 
And  putte  here  bodyes  yn  deeppe  prison,"  etc. 

1  Boileau,  Reglemens  sur  les  Metiers,  cap.  cxii. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


255 


time  of  Erwin  Yon  Steinbach,  and  may  be  appropriately 
distinguished  as  the  greater  and  lesser. 

The  smaller  tribunal  was  a  court  having  jurisdiction 
over  petty  causes  continually  arising  between  Masters, 
Pallirer  (wardens),  and  members  at  large.  It  was  pre- 
sided over  by  the  Master  himself,  and  held  within  the 
lodge  enclosure.  The  principles  and  method  which  guided 
decisions  were  such  as  had  prevailed  for  long  in  the 
Masonic  fraternity,  and  with  every  indication  that  the 
formularies  adopted  by  this  court  in  its  ordinary  proced- 
ure, in  accordance  with  which  justice  was  administered, 
were  descended  from  a  remote  antiquity,  and  of  Teutonic 
origin. 

Larger  courts  possessed  final  jurisdiction  over  matters 
of  greater  importance,  emanating  from  unsettled  disagree- 
ments between  Masters,  in  their  official  relations,  and  the 
architects.  Charges  of  this  magnitude  came  properly 
before  the  yearly  convention,  or,  to  speak  with  precision, 
the  Grand  Lodge,  at  such  time  and  place  as  the  book  of 
written  law,  from  time  to  time,  designated,  and  there  the 
allegations  of  parties  concerned  were  heard  and  deter- 
mined.1 This  grand  tribunal  embodied  within  its  con- 
struction elements  of  a  distant  epoch,  whose  original 
characteristics  were  modified  by  the  ceaseless  changes  of 
a  civilization  evolved  from  the  Middle  Ages.    In  so  far  as 


1  Vide  Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Freimaurer,  p.  47.  Perhaps,  for  expediency 
and  in  emergent  cases,  petty  charges  against  a  Master  were  adjudged  instanter, 
by  two  or  three  Masters  of  other  lodges.  This  view  is  adopted  by  the  author 
cited.  Three  such  officers  —  including  the  accused  —  must  be  present.  Here 
is,  perhaps,  the  foundation  for  Past  Masters'  authority.  This  office,  at  least 
in  name,  is  entitled  to  the  merit  of  antiquity.  In  a  return  made  by  a  guild 
established  in  the  year  1218,  the  phraseology  "past  alderman"  is  used  to 
designate  an  officer  who  passed  through  that  station  by  service.  Smith,  Eng- 
lish Guilds,  p.  166.  See  note  (*),  p.  324,  of  the  work  quoted,  where  the  com- 
piler asserts  that  a  grade  of  officiary,  styled  "  Past  Masters,"  was  clearly  rec- 
ognized by  an  ordinance  of  a  guild,  in  the  nineteenth  year  of  Edward  IV.'s 
reign. 


256 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


the  smaller  courts  were  regulated,  it  was  prescribed  that  a 
Master  should  exercise  usual  judicial  powers  in  his  lodge 
over  the  members,  and  should  administer  the  law  without 
hatred,  the  bias  of  friendship  or  enmity,  but  according  to 
the  pledges  of  his  solemn  oath.1 

Masters  and  Fellow-craftsmen  had  the  right  to  mutually 
adjust  their  personal  altercations,  in  order  that  employers 
might  not  accuse  them  with  violating  the  obligations,2 — 
under  no  circumstances,  were  the  Fellows  allowed  to  call 
the  Master  to  an  account  before  his  lodge.  They  were 
privileged  to  withdraw,  and  forbid  other  brethren  from 
yielding  obedience  to  him,  until  he  made  satisfactory 
reparation.3 

No  Fellow-craft  possessed  the  power  to  chastise  an 
apprentice,  but  was  compelled  to  lay  his  grievance  before 
the  Master,  whereupon  that  officer  was  authorized  to  in- 
vestigate the  alleged  delinquency,  and  if  the  apprentice 
were  unable  to  exculpate  himself,  the  Master  punished 
him.4  Craftsmen  were  strictly  forbidden  to  constitute 
themselves  judges  of  personal  quarrels,  thus  ignoring  their 
Master  or  Pallirer.5  Neither  could  a  Pallirer,  Fellow,  nor 
Apprentice  adjudicate  upon  suitable  adjustment  of  open 
ruptures  between  each  other;  and  in  case  an  operative 
assumed  to  render  a  decision,  he  was  required  to  make 
amends  at  the  Master's  option.  The  ordinance,  as  con- 
nected with  this  subject,  expressly  states  that  the  Master 
alone,  and  no  other,  shall  be  judge.6    When,  however,  an 

1  Ordnung,  1462,  Art.  39.  2  Ibid.,  Art.  44. 

3  Aber  die  gesellen  haben  keinen  Meister  zu  bussen.  Ibid.,  Art.  15.  This 
right  was  also  maintained  by  operatives  and  members  of  many  guilds.  Wilda, 
Das  Gilden  Wesen  im  MiltelaUer,  p.  336. 

4  Ordnung,  cit.,  Art.  78. 

5  Ibid.,  Art.  80 ;  Kloss,  Die  Freimaurerei  in  ihrer  wahren  Bedeulung,  p.  144. 

6  Der  Meister  soil  richter  sein  und  niemand  anders  ;  Ordnung,  cit.,  1462,  Art. 
81.  Vide  Stieglitz,  Ueber  die  Kirche  der  heiligen  Kunigunde  zu  Rochlitz,  p.  41. 
Judicial  powers  were  an  incident  to  guildic  associations  in  nearly  every  in- 
stance, and  for  obvious  reasons.    Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen,  pp.  16,  17. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


257 


accusation,  if  proven,  affected  honor  and  reputation,  three 
other  Masters  were  to  be  associated  with  him,  and  thus 
organized,  they  passed  sentence.1 

In  conformity  to  the  obligation  taken  previous  to  in- 
stallation as  presiding  officer  of  the  lodge,  that  dignitary 
was  necessitated  four  times2  each  year  to  propound  the 
question  to  his  craftsmen,  whether  envy  or  hatred  existed 
among  them,  which  might  prejudice  building  interests 
where  they  were  employed.  If,  upon  careful  inquiry,  the 
lodge  was  found  not  entirely  free  from  these  uncharitable 
feelings,  it  was  a  duty  devolving  on  the  Mastership  to 
settle  the  difficulties  in  a  summary  manner ;  and  any 
Fellow  refusing  obedience  to  his  superior's  order  was 
forthwith  discharged,  so  that  no  discord  might  interrupt 
the  general  peace  and  harmony  of  the  craft. 

The  Torgau  text3  seems  to  warrant  the  inference  that 
the  Master  was  solemnly  sworn  to  fearlessly  wield  the 
authority  of  his  office ;  or,  as  the  law  enjoined,  "  should 
do  right  and  let  alone  what  was  not  right,"  even  though 
employers  or  architects  were  opposed  to  him.  Every 
quarter-day  he  propounded  the  question  to  patrons  and 
superintendents  of  the  building,  whether  they  knew  of  a 
Fellow  having  failed  to  faithfully  perform  his  task,  or  had 
indulged  in  trivial  amusements  detrimental  to  the  interest 
of  the  work,  or  had  otherwise  conducted  himself  with 
impropriety  ;  and  such  delinquent  actions  charged  having 
been  duly  attested,  a  punishment  commensurate  with  the 
offence  was  promptly  administered.4  When  an  employer, 
with  full  knowledge,  concealed  any  overt  acts,  or  refused 
to  make  a  disclosure  to  the  Master,  whatever  loss  the 

1  Ordnung,  cit.,  Art.  40. 

2  This  was  a  close  imitation  of  the  ancient  German  Morgenspreche,  perpetu- 
ated in  England  and  called  "  mornspeches,"  and  were  quarterly  interchanges 
for  mutual  benefit.    Smith,  English  Guilds,  p.  47. 

3  Ut  supra,  Art.  41. 

*  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  vom  Yahre  1462,  Art.  42. 
22*  E 


258 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


edifice  sustained  in  consequence,  could  not  be  indemnified. 
Baumeister —  master  builders  —  were  allowed  no  juris- 
diction over  the  craftsmen  independent  of  the  lodge  Mas- 
ter, as  hitherto  stated,  excepting  in  the  absence  of  both 
officers ;  and  any  grievances  arising  in  the  meanwhile, 
must  be  referred  to  the  Master  or  Pallirer  on  his  return ; 
nor  was  wrangling  or  chaffering  tolerated  touching  the 
troubles,  but  all  discussion  should  cease,  and  a  dignified 
silence  be  observed  until  the  matters  were  examined  into 
by  the  proper  officer.1 

Touching  the  powers  inherent  or  delegated  the  larger 
court,  the  Torgau  regulations  ordain  that  the  Masters  of 
lodges  and  others  shall  be  convoked  each  year,  at  such  place 
as  shall  be  proclaimed,  in  accordance  with  the  book  of 
Masonic  law,  for  the  purpose  of  adjusting  all  unsettled 
controversies  during  the  past  twelve  months.  These  annual 
convocations2  assumed  the  appearance  and  powers  of  an 
appellate  tribunal,  exercising  the  authority  to  hear  and 
decide,  although  not  finally,  because  an  appeal  lay  thence  to 
the  Grand  Lodge  at  Strassburg.  All  infringements  upon 
old  established  customs  and  violations  of  law,  whether  by 
the  supervisory  architect,  Masters,  or  Fellows,  were  here 
adjudicated.3 

The  subject-matter  for  consideration  in  this  yearly  as- 
sembly, was  mainly  composed  of  accusations  by  one  lodge 
Master  against  another ;  charges  affecting  the  moral  and 


1  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  vom  Yahre  1462,  Art.  101. 

2  Annual  assemblages  of  Masons,  or  Grand  Lodges,  are  mentioned  in  the 
Halliwell  MSS.,  17  Al,  Art.  2 : 

"  Every  mayst  yat  ys  a  mason 
Most  ben  at  ye  general  congregation." 

In  their  construction,  these  bodies  bore  a  striking  analogy  to  the  German 
grand  bodies,  which  also  were  composed  of  Masters  and  Fellows.  Ibid.,  Artic- 
ulus  12.  Vide  Statute  3,  Hen.  VI.,  cap.  7,  an.  1424,  where  the  words  "annuels 
congregations  et  confederacies,"  frequently  occur. 

3  Ordnung,  cit.  sup.,  Art.  43. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


259 


Masonic  character  of  the  accused  ;  complaint  of  one  Master 
against  a  brother  Master,  that  he  had  supplanted  him  in 
his  contract  labor ;  and  allegations  by  architects  that  Mas- 
ters on  large  buildings  —  designated  year  work  —  had 
manifestly  proved  incompetent.1 

For  the  purpose  of  a  more  formal  trial  of  the  latter  allega- 
tion, the  architect  was  required  to  submit  his  charges  in 
writing,  or  deliver  them  orally  to  the  Werkmeister,  who 
certainly  corresponds  to  a  Grand  Master.  Others  entitled 
to  a  voice  in  the  convention,  were  selected  to  assist  that 
officer,  and  having  been  duly  obligated,  proceeded  to 
investigate,  according  to  Masonic  usage,  the  preferred  com- 
plaint, carefully  noted  the  defendant's  excuses  or  disclaimer, 
and  ultimately  rendered  a  decision  upon  the  merits  of  the 
cause.2  If  the  accused  failed  to  appear  and  answer,  judg- 
ment passed  against  him,  of  expulsion  from  the  fraternity, 
as  a  worthless  craftsman.  Whenever  emergencies  demanded, 
the  authority  of  a  higher  tribunal  was  invoked  to  finally 
determine  all  difficulties  not  adjustable  in  the  court  below.3 

The  form  or  constitution  of  this  superior  court  was  as 
follows :  the  Masters  of  lodges,  by  a  majority  vote,  elected 
a  chief  justice;  the  Pallirer  or  Wardens  selected,  in  con- 
junction with  the  Fellows,  associate  judges.4  These  judi- 
cial officers  began  at  once  the  adjudication  of  the  accusation 
and  defence  before  them.  An  oath  was  apparently  taken 
prior  to  entering  upon  the  duties  of  their  office,  which 
admonished  them  to  hold  the  scales  of  justice  with  an  exact 
equipoise.  In  case  of  disagreement,  the  entire  matter  was 
referred  to  a  deciding  judge,  who  reviewed  the  testimony 
adduced  by  the  suitors,  and  gave  judgment  upon  equitable 
principles  involved  in  the  controversy.    No  allusion  is 

1  Ordnung  der  Sleinmelzen,  1462,  Art.  43.  2  Ibid.,  Art.  43. 

3  This  is  clearly  recognizable  in  the  proem  to  the  ordinance  quoted.  See 
Stieglitz,  Ueber  die  Kirche  der  heiligen  Kuniyunde  zu  Rochlitz,  pp.  59,  60. 

*  Denominated  "  scheffen,"  or  "  schoffen."  Consult  Savigny,  Gesch.  d.  R.  R.t 
Vol.  I.,  pp.  197,  198. 


260 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


made  in  the  ordinance  of  Torgan  to  the  tribunal  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  at  Strassburg,  which  possessed  ultimate  ap- 
pellate power  over  all  subordinate  lodges  and  convocations 
of  Masons  in  Germany,  although  this  authority  seems  to 
be  tacitly  conceded.  To  this  superior  tribunal,  therefore, 
all  parties  feeling  themselves  aggrieved  by  adverse  decisions 
elsewhere,  were  at  liberty  to  apply  for  further  relief. 

That  the  Strassburg  Grand  Lodge  was  recognized  as  a 
court  of  final  resort,  and  as  such  obtained  undoubted  recoo*- 
nition  from  the  Germanic  craftsmen,  is  evidenced,  among 
other  attestations,  by  a  confirmatory  letter  issued  by  Em- 
peror Matthias,  in  the  year  1613,  in  which  more  ancient 
imperial  concessions  to  that  effect  are  cited  :  "  That  when- 
ever any  one  in  the  order  fails  to  receive  justice  at  the  fra- 
ternity's hands,  he  shall  appeal  to  no  other  tribunal  than 
that  at  Strassburg,  in  the  Grand  Lodge,  where  the  work- 
master  or  Master  of  the  craft,  as  supreme  judge,  shall  hear 
the  subject  matter  in  dispute,  and  shall  decide  the  same, 
conjointly  with  the  Fellows  and  associate  brethren,  in 
strict  harmony  with  ancient  craft  regulations."1  As  far 
back  as  the  year  1275,  a  court  of  this  prerogative  was  con- 
vened in  that  city,  with  the  chief  warden  sitting  beneath 
a  canopy.2 

Strenuous  efforts  were  made  by  the  mediaeval  Masons  to 
preserve  the  established  privilege  of  judging  society  affairs 
within  the  consecrated  precincts  of  their  own  petty  courtr. 
And  whenever  a  Master  or  Fellow  evinced  an  insubordi- 
nate character,  and  acted  in  opposition  to  lawful  direction, 

1  So  sollen  die  doch  einander  nit  weiter  dreiben,  dann  gelin  Strassburg  uff 
die  Haubthiitten,  da  soli  der  werkhmeister  als  ein  oberster  Eichter  des  Stein- 
werkbs,  die  sache  anhdren  undt  saenibt  seinen  Gesellen  und  Mitbriidern  uwlt 
handeln  darinen  nach  ordnung  unseres  Handwerkhs  desz  ini  Buch  liegt  zu 
Strassburg  uff  der  Hiitten.  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen,  bestdtigt  vom  Kayser 
Matthias,  1613. 

2  Brentano,  History  of  the  Origin  and  Development  of  Guilds,  p.  cxxvi.  For 
antiquity  of  judicial  powers  asserted  by  guilds,  see  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen 
des  MUtelalters,  pp.  10,  17. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


261 


it  was  the  custom  to  present  such  conduct  before  munici- 
palities and  noblemen,'  and  appeal  to  them  not  to  harbor 
or  protect  the  delinquent,  but  to  cooperate  in  executing 
Masonic  law.  This  provision  of  the  ordinance  seems  to 
have  been  designed  for  desperate  cases,  when  a  Master  or 
Fellow  endeavored  to  evade  the  force  of  lodge  legislation, 
and  sought  protection  from  cities  and  feudatories  of  the 
empire.  When,  however,  the  affair  assumed  this  form,  the 
persons  thus  protecting  an  absconding  Mason  were  sol- 
emnly requested  to  return  him  to  his  proper  tribunal.2  A 
curious  intimation  is  thrown  out  at  the  close  of  the 
forty-fifth  article :  whenever  a  recalcitrant  craftsman  was 
shielded  by  secular  authorities  from  craft  punishment,  or 
lodge  justice,  the  fraternity  was  at  liberty  to  inflict  upon 
the  delinquent  stonecutter  a  severer  castigation,  well 
defined  in  the  brotherhood  of  Masons.3  This  refers,  in 
an  unequivocal  manner,  to  the  oath-bound  penalties  to 
which  he  should  be  subjected,  if  apprehended. 

Disclosure  of  the  secret  mysteries  of  Freemasonry ,  during 
the  Middle  Ages,  was  atoned  for  by  terrible  reparation. 

It  is  related,  upon  Masonic  tradition,  that  a  citizen  of 
Utrecht,  in  the  year  1099,  killed  the  resident  bishop  on 
account  of  the  ecclesiastic  having  wrung  from  the  civil- 
ian's child  the  secret  principles  of  the  craft.4  We  shall 
presently  observe  that  lodge  formularies  shared  many  ele- 
ments with  mediaeval  courts  of  justice,  and  consequently, 
in  emergencies,  visited  similar  penalties  upon  convicted 
brethren. 

The  selection  of  judges,  in  the  manner  above  prescribed, 
was  a  German  custom,  venerable  with  antiquity  and  of 

1  Perhaps  the  civil  authorities  compelled  an  abjuration  of  the  handicraft. 
Anderson,  Ancient  Constitutions,  p.  34,  note  (*) ;  likewise,  Boileau,  Reglemens 
mr  Metiers,  cap.  48. 

2  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen,  1462,  Art.  45,  46. 

3  So  wissen  wir  wol  noch  lautte  der  Ordnunge  wie  wir  darinne  halden 
pollen.    Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 

*  I  give  this  from  Heboid,  Hist.  Generate  de  la  Franc  Mag.,  but  no  authority 
is  cited  for  lateral  research. 


262 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


general  usage.  A  provision  of  the  nature  alluded  to  was 
essentially  necessary,  inasmuch  as  the  law  of  superior  force, 
during  those  ages  and  prior  thereto,  was  the  only  recog- 
nized civil  authority.  According  to  a  Limburg  Chronique, 
quoted  by  Stieglitz,1  there  existed,  towards  the  close  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  no  universally  accepted  conditions  for 
maintaining  social  peace  and  harmony,  no  imperial  cham- 
ber of  justice  —  not  even  a  Concordata  Germanice  —  but  the 
strongest  boldly  appropriated  the  property  of  the  weak. 
In  order,  however,  to  preserve  the  appearance  of  a  judic- 
ature which  would  be  recognized  as  a  place  wherein  a 
semblance  of  law  prevailed,  each  of  the  parties  interested 
in  adjusting  mutual  disputations,  selected  a  judge  to  arbi- 
trate ;  these,  in  turn,  chose  another,  who  rendered  the 
decision,  which  was  final,  and  from  which  no  appeal  was 
tolerated.  In  concluding  his  judgment,  the  superior  justice 
used  the  following  formula  :  "  This  say  I,  arbiter  in  chief, 
on  my  honor,  to  be  right  and  just ;  and  in  making  up  my 
decision,  have  inquired  diligently  of  lords,  knights,  and 
serfs,  and  many  other  good  people."2 

1  Ueber  die  Kirche  zu  Rochlitz,  p.  43. 

2  Dieses  sagen  Ich  obman  bey  meinem  Ehren,  recht  sein  und  haben  michs 
befraget  bey  Herren,  Rittern,  und  Knechten  und  bey  vielen  gutten  Leuten. 
Stieglitz,  Ueber  der  Kirche  zu  Rochlitz,  p.  43 ;  Unger,  Die  Altdeutsche  Gerichts- 
verfassung,  p.  114.  The  Germanic  constitutions  more  carefully  circum- 
scribed the  guild  within  fraternal  jurisdiction  than  the  English  charges. 
In  the  latter  case,  the  principal  limitation  was  confined  to  an  attempted 
settlement  of  troubles  by  craft  interference  first,  before  going  to  common 
law.  The  guilds  of  Germany  generally  incorporated  in  their  regula- 
tions a  power  to  settle  all  grades  of  offences  arising  within  the  guild  hall, 
when  the  crime  did  not  pass  beyond  "  drawing  blood."  Wilda,  Das  Gilden 
Wesen  des  Mittelallers,  p.  217.  See  Boileau,  Reglemens  sur  Metiers,  cap.  xlviii. 
In  many  cases  criminal  jurisdiction  was  exercised  by  these  corporations: 
"  une  juridiction  de  police  et  meme  criminelle  sur  tous  leurs  membres." 
Lacroix,  Les  Moeurs  el  Usages  an  Moyen  Age,  p.  314 ;  Fallou,  Mysterien  der 
Freimaurer,  p.  47.  So  deeply  had  this  spirit  of  independent  judicial  assump- 
tion descended  in  the  people  of  those  ages,  that  love  courts  were  regularly  organ- 
ized, with  a  full  officiary  and  executive,  to  decide  such  cases  of  broken  hearts  ana* 
wounded  sensibilities  as  came  before  her  majesty,  the  queen-justice.  Lacroix, 
ui  supra,  pp.  71,  257 ;  Moratin,  Origines  del  Teatro  Espanol,  Discorso  Historico. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


Close  Identity  between  a  Lodge  of  Masons  and  Gothic  Courts  — 
A  Sacred  Place  —  Pagan  Customs  Untouched  by  Christianity- 
Northern  Tribunals  Held  on  Hills  and  in  the  Open  Air  — 
Circular  and  Quadrangular  in  Shape  —  Court  Enclosed  by 
Pales  or  Pfahl  —  A  Pallirer,  Paleman,  or  Warden  — Opening 
of  both  Bodies  with  a  Colloquy  —  Convened  at  Sunrise,  Close 
at  Sunset — Lunar  Influence  —  Formal  Symbolism  and  Order 
for  Silence  —  Proclamation  of  Obedience  — Why  Candidates  of 
Servile  Birth  are  Excluded  from  Medleval  Freemasons^ 
Teutonic  Courts  Close  with  Banquet. 


HAT  a  lodge  of  Masons,  constituted  for  regular 
work,  or  as  a  court  of  investigation,  with  the 
Master  endowed  with  high  power,  presented  a 
close  analogy  to  an  early  mediaeval  court,  cannot 


be  denied.  The  place  where  ancient  Teutonic  and  Norse 
nations  convened  their  law  tribunals,  was  regarded  and 
vigilantly  maintained  as  sacred,  and  among  the  Scandina- 
vians, ceremonies  preliminary  to  the  transaction  of  judi- 
cial business  were  conducted  by  the  priesthood.  To  this 
custom  many  allusions,  symbolic  or  otherwise,  prevailing 
in  the  later  courts  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  transmitted 
to  our  day  by  the  Freemasons,  can  be  traced  with  reason- 
able accuracy. 

The  court  precinct  was  invested  with  attributes  of 
sanctity  and  undisturbed  peace.1    Originally,  courts  were 

1  Dem  Gericht  wurde  heiligkeit  nnd  ein  besonderer  friede  beigelegt.  Grimm, 
Deutsches  Bechtes  Alterthumer,  p.  745. 

263 


264 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


held  under  the  broad  expanse  of  heaven,  in  the  open  air ; 
and,  in  the  belief  of  the  ancient  Germans,  according  to 
Tacitus,1  the  places  where  they  were  called  to  administer 
justice  maintained  a  high  degree  of  holiness.  It  was  there, 
moreover,  that  sacerdotal  offerings  ascended  to  heathen 
divinities  as  an  invocation  to  assist  the  judges  in  solving 
the  perplexities  of  law  which  they  promulged  and  decided. 

Although  the  Christian  religion  extinguished  the  sacri- 
ficial fires,  the  sacred  character  of  the  court  was  left  un- 
polluted. There  can  be  no  successful  controversy  upon 
the  assumption  that  it  was .  in  view  of  this  sanctity  and 
harmony  pervading  early  mediseval  tribunals,  that  a  Master 
was  directed  to  preserve  his  lodge  free  from  all  discord 
and  as  pure  as  a  court.2  According  to  Grimm,3  the  most 
usual  localities  where  ancient  Gothic  tribunals  convened, 
were  on  high  hills  or  rising  ground,  and  in  support  of  his 
opinion  the  learned  archaeologist  has  collected  a  numerous 
array  of  authorities. 

In  Germany,  many  places  still  terminate  with  the  word 
"  berg,"  or  eminence,  which  sufficiently  indicate  that 
judges  originally  assembled  there.  Mountains  were 
generally  invested  with  holiness,  as  emanating  from 
Northern  divinities,  under  whose  sanction  the  Teutonic 
arbiters  dispensed  j  ustice.4   Donnersberg,  or  Thor's  Mount, 

1  Germamia,  cap.  9  ;  Maurer,  Geschichte  der  Markenverfassung,  p.  327.  Also, 
Marches'  Courts  were  opened  under  a  canopy.  Ibid.,  p.  332,  etc.  In  this  con- 
nection, it  may  be  added  that  the  Masons'  court  held  in  Strassburg,  in  the 
year  1275,  with  the  chief  Warden  sitting  under  a  canopy,  was  an  evident  imi- 
tation of  remote  Teutonic  usages.    Brentano,  Hist.  Develop,  of  Guilds,  p.  cxxvi. 

2  Soli  die  Hiitten  frey  halten  als  ein  Gerichtsstadt.  Ordnung  der  Stein- 
metzen,  Y.  1462,  Art.  11.  The  ordinances  of  English  fraternities  subjected  all 
who  entered  the  ale  chamber  of  the  guild  without  leave  to  a  fine.  This  was 
evidently  imposed  in  the  interest  of  good  morals,  and  as  a  safeguard  to  excesses. 
Toulman  Smith,  English  Guilds,  pp.  84,  95,  etc.  In  the  regulation  above  cited, 
the  design  to  uphold  and  maintain  the  sacred  character  with  which  the  lodge 
was  invested  is  manifest. 

3  Deutsches  Rechts  Alterthiimer,  pp.  800-1  ;  Maurer,  op.  cit.,  p.  329. 
*  Unger,  Altdeutsche  Gerichle,  p.  188. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


265 


near  Warburg,  in  Westphalia,  was  consecrated  for  this 
purpose,  and  the  Limburg  Chronique1  informs  us  that  courts 
were  opened  and  held  on  the  Tunner  or  Downs,  upon  ris- 
ing ground.  A  custom  of  this  kind  had  apparently  ob- 
tained m  judicial  matters  among  the  Celts  and  Druids.2 

Valleys  also  claimed  veneration  as  under  the  especial 
safeguard  of  Norse  deities,  and  courts  of  law  were  often- 
times held  within  their  solemn  enclosure.  One  was  con- 
vened in  a  sloping  dale,  on  the  boundary  line  between 
Braunschweig  and  Mainz.  Other  examples  are  frequent 
where  judicial  assemblages  were  opened  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice  in  a  valley  sheltered  and  encompassed 
by  ascending  hills  ;  and  this  usage  was  unquestionably 
continued  during  the  Middle  Ages  in  obedience  to  relig- 
ious superstition  —  a  relict  of  Northern  antiquity.3  As 
previously  urged,  early  Christian  builders  erected  their 
church  edifices  on  high  hills,  in  order  to  retain,  with  the 
new  doctrines  of  faith,  as  many  of  the  popular  notions  as 
the  evangelical  creed  would  tolerate.  Collectively  taken, 
the  facts  alleged  will,  perhaps,  clearly  explain  whence  the 
legend  still  extant  among  Freemasons  drew  its  original 
features  :  that  "  ancient  brethren  formerly  met  on  elevated 
places  and  in  deep  valleys." 

It  was  during  the  Carlovingian  age  that  the  law  courts 
were  ordered  to  discontinue  their  sessions  in  the  open  air, 
and  thenceforth  to  assemble  within  sheltered  enclosures, 
under  the  pretext  that  the  wide-spreading  branches  of  the 
linden  tree  and  perpendicular  rock  furnished  but  frail  pro- 
tection for  judges  and  people.4  Notwithstanding  the  effort 
of  Charlemagne  to  crush  out,  beneath  the  weight  of  impe- 

1  Grimm,  Deutsckes  Rechts  Alterthiimer,  p.  802. 

2  In  the  legendary  contest  of  the  Wartburg  singers,  the  trial  of  voices  was 
held  on  high  ground.    Wilmar,  Literatur  Geschichte,  p.  230. 

3  Grimm,  ut  supra,  p.  800.  Hills  were  selected  by  preference,  on  account 
of  their  sacred  associations  as  burial  places  for  the  dead.  Simrock,  Deutsche 
Mythologie,  p.  319. 

4  Baluz.,  Capitular,  Karol.  Mag.,  Tome  I.,  p.  467. 

23 


266 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


rial  power,  this  form  of  venerable  and  popular  judicature 
in  the  rural  districts,1  these  outdoor  tribunals  still  perpet- 
uated a  vigorous  existence ;  nor  was  it  until  late,  or 
towards  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  that  they  were 
extinguished.2 

The  earliest  form  of  a  court  was  circular,  because  the 
multitude  surrounding  their  judges  naturally  collected  in 
the  outline  of  a  circle.  Subsequently  this  shape  gradually 
changed  to  an  oval,  and  finally  to  an  oblong  square.3 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  earliest  information 
which  we  possess  touching  the  formation  of  a  mediaeval 
lodge  of  Masons,  asserts  the  brethren  assembled  around 
the  Master  in  a  semi-circle.4  Since  then  a  lodge  is  described 
to  be  an  oblong  square,  and  this  ideal  shape  appears  to  have 
been  imitated  from,  and  made  to  conform  to,  a  court  out- 
line. This  ultimate  change  can  be  satisfactorily  attributed 
to  the  fact  that  this  circumference  was  necessarily  altered 
by  surrounding  obstacles  where  justices  officially  convened. 
For  instance,  if  they  met  in  the  streets  of  a  town,  the 
lateral  walls  pushed  the  arc  of  the  circle  to  a  straight  line  ; 
but  there  was  uniformly  more  than  an  imaginary  boundary 
to  these  ancignt  courts,  in  order  to  repress  outlying  crowds.5 

Scandinavian  antiquities  declare  this  method  to  have 
consisted  in  staking  off  the  circular  form,  or  subsequently  the 
oblong  square,  with  stout  hazel  twigs,  fastened  with  strong- 
cords.6  Frequently,  the  excitement  attendant  uponanadju- 

1  One  was  held  as  late  as  the  year  1688. 

2  Grimm,  Deutsche*  Rechts  Altertkumer,  p.  806. 

3  Fruhe  kann  sich  aber  audi  aus  dem  ovalen  ring  ein  liinglichs  viereck 
gebildet  haben.    Ibid.,  p.  809.    Maurer,  Markenverfassung,  p.  332. 

4  Hibernian  judges  arranged  their  courts  in  the  shape  of  a  half-moon. 
Moore,  History  of  Ireland,  Vol.  I.,  p.  42.  Der  meister  des  Baues  stellte  sich 
in  den  Osten  und  die  Briider  ordneten  sich  im  Halbkreis  urn  ihn.  Findel, 
Geschichte  der  Freimaurerei,  p.  82.  See  Biograp.  Brit.,  X.,  art.  Wren.  At  the 
close  of  the  last  century,  lodge  banquets  were  drawn  up  in  the  form  of  a  semi- 
circle.   Regulateur  du  Macon,  p.  40. 

5  Grimm,  ubi  supra,  p.  809. 

6  Ibid. ;  Dahlinann,  Geschichte  von  Dannemark,  Bd.  II.,  pp.  207,  208 ;  Mallet, 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


267 


dication  of  disputes  caused  so  great  a  pressure  from  behind, 
that  the  cords  were  broken,  although,  as  Grimm1  states, 
the  reputation  of  sanctity  accorded  to  this  circumscribed 
space  was  of  itself  sufficient  to  deter  forcible  entrance. 

In  the  year  1283,  the  posts  surrounding  the  allotted  place 
were  called  "  pale  "  or  u  palings,  extra  septa  judicialia,  quae 
teutonice  richtpale  nuncupantvu\"'1  This  word  is  common  to 
both  the  Saxon  and  German  languages.  In  its  oldest  form 
it  is  generic  pal,  and  in  the  modern  English  paling,  the 
original  pal  has  been  retained,  but  the  Germans  have 
changed  it  to  pfahl.  These  words  possessed  an  identical 
signification,  and  meant  a  post  or  paling  set  up  to  guard 
against  approach  from  the  outside. 

There  appear  to  have  been  two  main  entrances  into  the 
enclosed  court-yard,  but  from  what  cardinal  points  is  un- 
certain—  perhaps  from  the  south  and  west.  It  is  very 
clear,  however,  that  these  ingresses  were  under  the  charge 
or  guard  of  two  persons,  who,  in  admitting  all  duly  author- 
ized parties,  removed  the  pale,  or  paling,  and  it  is  reason- 
able to  infer  that  the  officers,  from  the  duty  they  performed, 
were  denominated  Pallirer  ;  the  original  meaning  of  which 
was  a  guardian  of  the  court  pale,  or  post. 

When  the  ordinances  of  the  years  1459  and  1462  were 
committed  to  writing,  this  word  had  obtained  the  well- 
defined  signification  of  warden,  or  one  who  guards,3  and 
in  this  sense  it  occurs  in  the  Tor^au  book  of  Masonic 
law.  A  striking  custom  existed  in  opening  a  mediaeval 
court  of  justice,  which  has  descended  to  and  is  still  prac- 
tised in  lodges  of  Freemasons,  and  which,  in  numerous  and 

Northern  Antiquities,  p.  291.  The  cords  uniting  the  stakes  were  designated 
vebond,  consecrated  threads,  from  ve,  holy,  and  bond,  cord  or  bands. 

1  Grimm,  ut  supra,  p.  809. 

2  Grimm,  Rechts  Alterthiimer,  p.  810. 

3  The  regulation  of  1459  has  the  word  both  Parlirer  and  Palirer.  In  the 
sworn  transcript  of  the  Torgau  ordinance,  procured  by  Stieglitz,  it  uniformly 
occurs  as  Pallirer. 


268 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AXD 


essential  particulars,  resembles  the  old  Gothic  tribunals. 
I  refer  to  the  formal  opening  of  the  court  with  a  colloquy. 
The  first  question1  which  the  justice  propounded  the 
associate  judges  and  bailiffs,  was  whether  the  court  was 
opened  at  the  right  time  of  day  and  in  the  proper  place;  or, 
as  a  manuscript  2  of  the  year  1440  gives  it,  whether  the  year 
and  day,  place  and  time,  were  correct.3 

The  time  within  which  judicial  proceedings  were  al- 
lowed, extended  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  of  the  sun. 
In  imitation  of  this,  the  mediaeval  lodges  began  work  at 
sunrise  and  closed  at  sunset.4 

An  allusion  to  this  custom  is  still  preserved  in  the 
formal  opening  and  closing  of  Masonic  labors.  Day  and 
sunlight  were  regarded  as  essentially  holy  by  the  ancient 
Teutons. 

In  obedience  to  a  superstition  which  sanctified  all  diurnal 
business,  neither  the  Gothic  courts  nor  lodges  of  Masons, 
during  the  Middle  Ages,  were  opened  before  the  rising  of  the 


1  Eine  solche  feierlichc  Eroffnung  des  Gerichts  durch  Fragen  andenFrohn- 
boten  oder  die  Schoffen  um  ein  Urtheil  darueber :  ob  es  an  reenter  Zeit, 
rechter  Statte  sei,  u.  p.  w.,  wie  auch  die  formelle  Schliessung  des  Gerichts 
erhielt  sich  so  lang  das  offentleche  miindliche  Verfahren  stattfand.  Schulte, 
Reiclis-  und  Rechtsgeschichte,  pp.  356-7  ;  Maurer,  Markcnverfassung,  p.  341.  A 
colloquy  ensued,  in  a  chapter  of  ecclesiastics,  between  the  abbott  and  candi- 
date for  the  novitate.    Fosbroke,  British  Monachism,  p.  179. 

2  Ob  es  an  jar  und  tag  weil  und  zeit  sei.  Grimm,  Deutsches'Rechts  Alter- 
th  timer,  p.  813. 

3  During  this  dialogue,  it  was  asked  by  the  presiding  justice  how  many 
composed  such  a  justiciary,  to  which  the  reply  was,  there  should  be  at  least 
seven.    Vide  Unger,  Altdeutsche  Gerichten,  p.  65. 

"  Graf:  Ich  froge  dich  frone,  wie  und  mit  wie  viel  schoppfen  und  fryen  ich 
den  stul  bestizen  soil  und  bekleyden  ? 

"Bot  :  Ir  soli  zum  myndesten  siben  freyen  der  grafschaft  by  euch  sitzen, 
u.  s.  w."  Thiersch,  Geschichte  der  Stadt  Dortmund,  cited  by  Winzer,  Die 
Deutscher  Bruderschaften  des  Mittelalters,  pp.  142-143. 

4  Man  versammelte  sich  frith  vor  Sonnenaufgang.  Abends  nach  der  Arbeit 
versammelte  sich  wieder.  Findel,  Geschichte  der  Frcimaurerei,  p.  82.  Vide 
Biograph.  Brit.,  X.,  art.  Wren. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


269 


sun,  but  suspended  work  exactly  at  sunset.1  The  season 
for  convening  early  tribunals  was,  moreover,  regulated  in 
strict  harmony  with  religious  faith.  A  like  usage  evi- 
dently prevailed  in  the  periodical  meetings  of  the  building- 
fraternity  when  convened  for  important  deliberations  — 
among  these  may  be  mentioned  initiatory  rites — and  is 
to  this  day  closely  adhered  to  by  provincial  lodges. 

Heathen  antiquity  yielded  due  reverence  to  changes  of 
the  moon  —  a  new  or  full  moomwas  looked  upon  as  espe- 
cially favorable  ;  per  contra,  that  orb,  when  waning,  typified 
the  sinistrous  and  sombre.  Tacitus2  notes  this  singular 
notion  as  existing  in  full  vigor  among  the  Germans  of  his 
age.  Civil  courts  were  convoked,  by  an  almost  universal 
usage,  on  or  before  the  full  moon.3 

The  method  of  opening  an  ancient  Gothic  court  was 
symbolized  by  typical  elements,  similar  in  signification  to 
the  inauguration  of  Masonic  lodge  work.  For  this  pur- 
pose the  judicial  appointments,  or  furniture,  consisted  of 
benches  set  up  with  careful  formality,  and  a  sword,  as  an 
emblem  of  justice,  was  invariably  suspended.4 

A  shield  hung5  near  the  judges'  seat,  and,  perhaps,  in 
remote  times,  may  have  been  affixed  to  a  spear  thrust  into 
the  ground.  Other  symbols,  such  as  an  iron  gauntlet, 
sword,  shears,  axe,  and  a  cord,  lay  exposed  upon  the  bench 
at  the  commencement  of  the  court,  and  remained  there 


1  Grimm,  ut  supra,  p.  813.  Urtheilte  musten  bei  scheinender  Sonne  werden ; 
das  Gericht  heiszt  Tageding.    Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  517. 

2  Germania,  cap.  11. 

3  Gericht  und  recht  im  weichbilde  Ottendorf  all  monat  auf  den  vollen 
mond.    Grimm,  ut  supra,  p.  821. 

*  This  symbol  is  still  used  in  German  lodges.  It  is  typical  of  light  and  the 
source  of  light.  Schauberg,  Symbolik  der  Freimaurerei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  36.  Von 
Tyr,  dem  leuchtend  Himmelsgotte,  dessen  Symbol  das  Schwert  ist  mag  es  an 
Odin  uebertragen  sein,dasz  er  bei  Oegirs  Bewirthung  seine  himmlische  Halle 
mit  schwertlicht  beleuchtete.  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  265.  The  sword, 
in  the  lodges  of  Germany,  is  before  the  Master. 

5  SchulUe,  Reichs-  und  Rechtsgeschichte,  p.  357. 
23* 


270 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


until  it  concluded  the  session.  Upon  the  close  of  the 
tribunal,  benches  were  upended,  the  emblems  of  judicial 
authority  removed,  and  the  justice  stood  up.1 

At  the  first  ray  of  sunrise,  a  signal  was  given  for  silence. 
It  was  the  judge's  duty  immediately  to  perform  the  func- 
tions of  his  office,  in  exactly  the  same  manner  as  falls 
within  the  authority  of  a  Master  of  a  lodge,  by  command- 
ing attention  and  placing  the  sacred  enclosure  under  the 
ban  of  harmony  and  peace.  In  this  respect,  the  powers 
incident  to  a  mediaeval  court  and  congregated  Masons  may 
be  traced  to  a  custom  practised  by  the  early  Germans, 
whose  priesthood,  in  such  assemblies,  enjoined  quiet  and 
silence.2  When  perfect  stillness  had  been  secured,  the 
chief  judge  caused  proclamation,  substantially  as  fol- 
lows, to  be  made :  That  no  one  should  depart  the  court 
without  license,  nor  enter  without  permission :  no  one 
shall  move  from  his  place  into  another's  seat  without 
leave  from  the  proper  authority,  and  the  discussion  of 
private  or  other  affairs  was  prohibited,  unless  permission 
had  been  obtained.  This  order  was  thrice  repeated,3  but 
whether  it  was  transmitted  through  subordinate  officers, 
similar  to  the  practice  which  prevails  in  formal  lodge 

1  Eroffnet  wurde  das  Gericht  durch  feurliche  Hegung  des  Rechters,  bei- 
stehend  in  der  Aufhangung  des  Syrabole  (Schild,  Sehwert  u.  degl.)  Aufstellung 
der  Banke,  etc.  Geschlossen  wird  es  durch  Abnahme  der  Symbole,  Urn- 
sturzen  der  Banke,  Aufstehen  des  Richters.  Schulte,  loc.  cit.  Grimm,  Rechls 
Alterthiimer,  pp.  851,  854.  When  the  Alderman  or  Master  of  a  guild  arose, 
silence  must  be  observed.  Smith,  English  Guilds,  p.  280.  Same  effect  in  a 
chapter  of  monks  when  the  abbott  stood  up.  Fosbroke,  British  Monachism, 
pp.  88,  93. 

2  Silentium  per  sacerdotes,  quibus  turn  et  coercendi  jus  est  imperatur. 
Tacit.,  Germania,  cap.  11  ;  Maurer,  Markenverfassung,  p.  267. 

3  Bann  und  Fried  gebieten  das  niemand  ausgehe,  er  gehe  mit  urlaub,  nie- 
mand  ingehe,  er  gehe  mit  urlaub,  niemand  das  andern  wort  spreche  sonder 
urlaub ;  und  verbieten  znm  ersten,  mm  ziveiten,  zum  dritienmoL  Grimm,  Rtclds 
Allertlaimer,  p.  853.  Prelntial  authority  was  equally  extensive  in  cloister 
chapters,  and  a  like  rule  existed  touching  conversation,  departure,  etc.,  without 
license.    Fosbroke,  British  Monachism,  p.  88. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


271 


openings,  or  was  merely  pronounced  by  the  justice,  does 
not  appear,  although  it  is  fairly  inferable  that  this  an- 
nouncement was  published,  from  varied  quarters  of  the 
court,  by  a  regular  transmission. 

It  was,  moreover,  incumbent  on  the  mediaeval  judges  to 
forbid  the  use  of  unkind  or  irritating  phrases,  or  dishonor- 
able imputations ;  especially,  that  no  private  business  should 
be  transacted,  and,  identical  with  the  sterling  injunction 
of  the  old  Torgau  ordinance,1  he  should  "  compel  the  right 
and  forbid  what  was  not  right."  2  The  command  to  main- 
tain an  uninterrupted  silence,  and  preserve  judicial  peace 
and  harmony,  was  insisted  upon  without  qualification,  in 
order,  as  an  ancient  citation  in  Grimm3  avers,  that  no 
hindrance  shall  be  allowed  to  delay  the 'proceedings.  The 
approach  to  the  court  enclosure  was  rigidly  restricted 
to  the  free-born ;  no  serf  or  bondman  was  allowed  to 
come  within  nine  paces  of  the  place  where  justice  was 
administered.4 

Probably  this  venerable  usage  may  explain  the  secret 
cause  of  the  prohibition  extant  during  the  Middle  Ages 
among  operative  Masons,  against  the  initiation  of  any  one 
not  free-born. 

All  applicants  for  the  mysteries  of  this  craft  must  ex- 
hibit unquestioned  proofs  touching  their  legitimacy  and 
freedom  of  birth.  It  was  presumed  that  slavery  or  servi- 
tude, in  its  mildest  form,  rendered  a  man  less  good  and 
pure,  or  that  it  debased  or  degraded  him,  and  for  this 
reason  he  was  enjoined  from  contaminating  the  hallowed 
precincts  of  law  courts  by  his  presence.  Lodges  of  Masons 
likewise  jealously  guarded  their  doors  against  the  serf. 


1  Da  soil  ein  Meister  recht  thun  und  unrecht  lassen.    Art.  41. 

2  Recht  sollet  ihr  gebieten  und  unrecht  verbieten.    Grimm,  ubi  supra,  p.  854. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  853. 

4  Blieben  die  Eingehorigen  neun  schritte  von  der  Hutte  stehen.  Ibid.,  p. 
854.  From  the  word  Hutte  (Eng.  lodge)  it  would  seem  that  a  mediaeval  court 
was  frequently  designated  as  a  lodge. 


272 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


To  have  admitted  him,  would  taint  the  sacred  enclosure, 
which  was  held  to  be  as  holy  and  free  as  a  court  of  justice. 
Points  of  identity  between  lodge  operations  and  mediae- 
val courts  are  of  too  frequent  occurrence  to  be  merely 
accidental. 

Far  back  in  the  distance  of  a  remote  antiquity,  Teutonic 
nations  closed  their  judicial  terms  with  a  grand  drinking 
bout.1  Freemasonry  early  imitated  this  usage,  and  ban- 
quets largely  prevailed  among  the  craftsmen,  who,  as 
hitherto  narrated,  concluded  the  investiture  of  degrees 
upon  candidates  with  toasts  drank  to  the  newly-made 
brother's  health,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  fraternity. 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  add  that  all  fines  col- 
lected by  order  or  judgment  of  Gothic  tribunals  from 
delinquents,  were  expended  for  wine  and  beer  —  the  prin- 
cipal drink  in  these  carousals.  On  such  occasions,  by  a 
commendable  courtesy,  the  judges  were  allowed  the  pre- 
liminary draught,  after  which  the  people  at  large  indulged 
ad  libitum.2 

1  Tacitus,  Germania,  c.  22 ;  Grimm,  Rechts  Alterthiimer,  p.  869. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  871 ;  Schulte,  Reichs-  und  Rechtsgeschichte,  p.  356;  Maurer,  Ge- 
schichte  der  Markenverfassung,  p.  277.  Consult  Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Frei- 
maurer,  pp.  28-36.  Banquets  were  rigidly  required  at  every  initiation.  Ibid., 
p.  63.  The  mode  of  holding  these  festivals  was  regularly  digested,  with  great 
elaboration,  by  the  Regulateur  du  Magon,  p.  40,  et  seq. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


The  Master's  Mallet  or  Gavel — Its  Antiquity  Derived  from 
the  Scandinavians  —  Symbol  of  Power  —  Type  of  Possessory 
Right — Hammer-convened  Germanic  Court— Auctioneer's  Im- 
plement —  Originated  from  Thor's  Miolner  —  Mallet  Used  in 
Northern  Funerals  —  Hammer  Sign,  or  Cross — Master's 
Authority  Rests  on  the  Gavel  —  Typical  of  Death  —  A  Mallet 
Actually  Used  by  the  Norse  to  Slay  the  Impotent  —  Charles 
Martel  and  his  Masonic  Connection  —  Claimed  as  a  Patron  on 
Account  of  Carrying  a  Hammer. 

ERHAPS  no  lodge  appliance  or  symbol  is  pos- 
sessed of  such  deep  and  absorbing  interest  to  the 
craft  as  the  Master's  mallet  or  gavel.  Nothing 
in  the  entire  range  of  Masonic  paraphernalia  and 
formulary  can  boast  of  an  antiquity  so  unequivocally 
remote.  At  the  installation  of  a  Master,  he  is  informed, 
upon  being  tendered  this  implement,  that  it  constitutes 
the  essential  element  of  his  authority  over  the  assembled 
brethren,  without  which  his  efforts  to  preserve  order  and 
subordination  must  be  ineffectual.  He  is  further  instructed 
that  the  gavel  is  an  emblem  of  power,  and  the  governing 
instrument  of  his  office.  It  is  also  fairly  interpreted  to 
be  the  symbol  that  inducts  or  establishes  him  into  the 
possession  of  a  lodge  of  Masons.1 

1  The  gavel  or  hammer  is  the  gift  or  symbol  of  the  tenure  by  which  a 
Master  holds  his  office.  It  is  derived  from  gabellum,  census,  iributum,  red  it  us, 
a  gift  or  presentation  used  in  the  transfer  or  conveyance  of  possession  from 
hand  to  hand.    Ex  saxonice,  gafel.    Du  Cange,  Gloss.  Med.  el  Inf.  Lat.,  sub  voce, 

S  273 


274 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


As  an  emblem  of  extraordinary  power,  the  mallet  has 
preserved  its  typical  character  during  successive  ages,  and 
as  such  has  come  down  to  our  day. 

So  early  as  the  year  1462,  it  was  clearly  recognized  to  be 
a  Masonic  symbol,  whose  use  regulated  and  defined  terri- 
tory surrounding  a  lodge.  The  ordinance1  of  that  date 
expressly  declared  that  lewd  women  should  remain  as  far 
from  the  sacred  enclosure  as  a  hammer  could  be  hurled. 
This  implement  was  a  religious  symbol  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  made  use  of  to  establish  proprietary  rights  over 
land  and  water.  It  was  accomplished  by  throwing  the  mal- 
let at  full  swing,  and  all  ground  traversed  was  acknowl- 
edged as  immediately  reduced  to  the  person's  possession 
casting  the  same.2 

In  the  fifteenth  century,  therefore,  this  custom  was 
practised  by  the  Masonic  fraternity,  and  symbolized  pro- 
prietorship. 

In  modern  Freemasonry,  it  still  survives  as  an  emblem- 
atic pledge  of  a  Master's  ownership  over  his  lodge.  It  is 
true,  the  gavel  now  is  no  longer  hurled  in  order  to  limit 
the  outlying  territory  contiguous  to  the  hallowed  precincts, 
but  the  use  of  that  implement  perpetuates  the  mediaeval 
idea  of  possession. 

The  hammer  was,  in  very  early  ages,  used  as  a  signal  by 
which  Gothic  courts  were  convened.  In  districts  where 
judges  ordered  tribunals  to  assemble,  a  mallet  was  carried 
around  among  the  inhabitants,  who,  upon  seeing  this 
emblem  of  judicial  authority,  instantly  collected  at  the 
designated  place.3 

Gabellum.  See  Glossary  to  Thorpe's  edition  of  Beowulf,  Anglo-Sax.  Songs 
v.  gifan. 

1  Hat  jemandt  mit  Ir  (unziichtige  fraw)  was  zu  reden,  so  soli  man  von  der 
Werckstatt  geen,  als  man  mochte  gewerffen  mit  einem  Scholhamer,  von  der 
Werckstatt.    Ordnung  der  Steinmelzen,  1462,  Art.  13. 

2  Grimm,  Deutsches  Rechts  Allerthumer,  p.  64 ;  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie, 
pp.  277-499.    Vide,  Maurer,  Geschichle  der  Markenverfassung,  pp.  161,  162. 

3  Ubrigens  war  der  hammer  noch  spater  hin  gerichtliches  zeichen,  durch 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


275 


The  gavel  in  the  hand  of  the  Master  of  a  Masonic  lodge, 
directly  alludes  to  this  ancient  usage,  and  when  it  sounds 
the  decision  of  a  question  submitted,  that  blow  is  merely 
the  reecho  of  a  power  current  many  centuries  ago,  in  the 
administration  of  justice.  The  judges  of  our  modern 
courts  of  law  wield  the  gavel  with  a  no  less  emblematic 
power  than  a  Master  of  Masons.  Grimm1  says  that  the 
hammer-stroke  which  the  auctioneer  makes  to  conclude  a 
sale  is  derived  from  the  custom  referred  to.  But  the 
mallet,  chiefly  as  a  symbol  of  power,  is  of  the  remotest 
antiquity,  which  I  shall  now  proceed  to  trace.  In  Northern 
mythology,  Thor  was  always  represented  with  a  mallet,2 
called  Miolner.3 

Its  origin  is  as  follows  :  Loki,  one  of  the  Norse  deities, 
made  a  wager  with  a  dwarf  that  he  could  not  forge  certain 
things  which  would  compare  with  the  mechanical  skill  of 
other  dwarfs.  Certain  conditions  were  agreed  upon,  and 
the  dwarf  began  to  labor  industriously  at  his  forge.  A 
suitable  time  having  elapsed,  he  took  from  the  fire,  among 
other  articles,  a  hammer,  named  Miolner.4  The  things 
forged  were  produced  before  three  principal  gods  of  As- 
gard,5  —  Odin,  Thor,  and  Frey,  —  who  were  selected  as 
arbiters  of  their  relative  value. 

After  careful  test,  it  was  unanimously  decided  that  the 
hammer  was  superior  to  all.    This  implement  possessed 


herumsendung  eines  hammers  pflegte  in  einigen  gegenden  der  richter  die 
gemeinde  zu  berufen.    Grimm,  Rechts  Alterihiimer,  p.  65. 

1  Ibid.,  loc.  tit. 

2  Thor  der  nord,  donnergott  fiihrt  einen  Hammer  von  selbst  fleigt  der  ge- 
worfen  Miolner  in  seiner  hand  zuriick.  Ibid.,  p.  64 ;  Simrock,  Deutsche  Myth- 
ologie,  p.  232 ;  Skaldskap,  c.  35. 

3  Skaldskap,  c.  35 ;  Mallet,  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  417  ;  Schauberg,  Symbolik 
der  Freimaurerei,  Bd.  I.,  p;  250. 

*  The  bruiser  or  crusher,  from  myla,  milja,  cognate  with  the  German  miihlen, 
to  grind,  and  muehle,  Eng.  mill.  "  Little  the  Fancy  know  of  the  high  con- 
nections of  their  phrase  mill."    Keightly,  Fairy  Mythology,  p.  69,  note  (*). 

5  Abodes  of  the  Norse  divinities. 


276 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


the  virtue  of  striking  with  unerring  certainty  any  object 
at  which  it  was  thrown,  and  however  severe  a  blow  was 
struck,  no  injury  ensued  to  the  person  wielding  the  ham- 
mer.1 The  Scandinavian  divinities  at  this  time  were  wag- 
ing a  bitter  warfare  against  rebellious  frost  giants,  and 
hailed  the  acquisition  of  Miolner,  as  a  powerful  weapon  of 
defence,  with  unaffected  delight.  To  Th«r  was  given  the 
mallet,  a  gift  of  especial  applicability,  as  he  was,  according 
to  the  prose  Edda,2  the  strongest  of  Norse  gods  ;  and  when 
belted  with  the  girdle  of  prowess — meginjardir — with  ham- 
mer in  hand,  he  was  irresistible.  Scaldic  songs  recite 
numerous  adventures  in  which  Thor  manifested  Miolner's 
divine  attributes. 

On  one  occasion,  by  a  blow  of  this  all-powerful  imple- 
ment, he  shattered  into  fragments  a  rocky  mountain ;  and 
in  a  trial  of  strength,  nearly  loosed  the  Medgard  serpent, 
which,  in  Northern  or  Teutonic  mythology,  was  delineated 
as  encircling  the  earth  and  preserving  it  intact.3  Medgard 
was  finally  slain  by  this  terrible  weapon.4  In  the  recov- 
ery of  his  mallet,  which  lay  eight  miles  beneath  Jotun- 
heim's  congealed  rocks,  Thor  slew,  with  a  single  blow  of 
redoubted  Miolner,  the  giant  Thrym  and  his  followers.5 
In  the  struggle  with  Hrungir,  the  mallet's  highest  symbol 
of  power  is  set  forth.  When  these  gigantic  rivals  ap- 
proached, Thor  flashed  in  divine  force,  represented  by  the 
hammer.  Hrungir  hurled  his  club  at  the  Asgard  god, 
but  the  irresistible  power  of  Miolner  fell  with  crushing 
weight  upon  his  antagonist  and  killed  him.6 

Thor's  mallet  was  the  resistless  thunderbolt,  emblem- 
atically represented  by  this  implement ;  hence  the  deriva- 

1  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  39 ;  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologies 
p.  251. 

2  Gylfaginning,  21 ;  Mallet,  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  417. 

8  Gylfaginning,  47  ;  Mallet,  ut  supra,  p.  443.  4  Gylfaginning,  48. 

5  Thrymskvidha  edr  Hamarsheimt,  cc.  8,  32. 

6  Skalds/cap,  c.  17 ;  also,  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  71. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


277 


tion  of  thunder,  from  Thor,  Thonar,  Donnar.  Whenever 
the  god  of  thunder  was  not  possessed  of  his  terrible 
weapon,  he  was  not  well  matched  with  his  opponents.  It 
was  the  marvellous  property  of  Miolner,  after  having  been 
launched  upon  a  voyage  of  destruction,  that  it  invariably 
returned  to  its  owner.  According  to  the  traditions  of 
Scandinavian  mythology,  when  this  deity  once  lost  that 
emblem  of  power,  his  anxiety  to  regain  it  was  extreme.1 
Baldur's  funeral  pile  was  consecrated  by  Thor  with  the 
hammer  Miolner.2 

This  same  symbolical  mallet  was  used  in  the  solemn 
ceremonies  of  marriage,3  and  to  this  day  the  Finns,  in  their 
nuptial  rites,  strike  fire  with  flint  and  steel  in  humble 
imitation  of  the  terrible  thunderbolt.4  With  the  hammer 
the  banqueting  cups  of  the  ancient  Norsemen  were  ren- 
dered auspicious,5  and,  according  to  Giejer,6  food  and 
drink  were  blessed  with  Thor's  hammer-sign.  The  learned 
Thorlacius  asserts  that  the  stone  axes  found  in  the  graves 
of  Scandinavian  warriors  were  merely  simulacra  armorum, 
and  that  they  were  designed  to  typify  the  resistless  power 
of  Thor's  hammer,  which  fell  with  killing  force  upon  his 
demon  adversaries ;  or,  in  other  words,  they  were  emblems 
of  the  irresistible  might  attributed  to  Miolner.7  Thor's 
mallet,  laid  upon  the  knee  of  the  veiled  bride,  inaugurated 

1  Thorpe,  Ibid.,  p.  54. 

"  Wild  ward  Wing-Thor  als  er  erwachte 
Und  seinen  Hammer  vorhanden  nicht  sari." 

Thrymskvidha,  Str.  1. 

2  Gylfaginmng,  49 ;  Thorpe,  ut  supra,  p.  75 ;  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alter- 
thumer,  p.  64 ;  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  227. 

3  Grimm,  loc.  cit. ;  Simrock,  Ibid. ;  Thrymskvidha,  Str.  30. 

4  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  171.  There  was  much  formality- 
involved  in  this  custom,  performed  in  the  presence  of  the  relatives  and  parents 
of  the  children  fiancees.  Praesentibus  amicis  et  sanguine  junctis,  parentes 
per  ignem  foederant  conjungia  natorum :  et  hoc  ferro  et  silice  per  excusionem. 
Olaui  Magni,  Historia  Septentri.  Condit,  Lib.  IV.,  cap.  vii. 

5  Geijer,  History  of  Sweden,  Vol.  I.,  p.  33.  6  Ibid. 
7  Mallet,  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  211. 

24 


278 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


her  into  her  new  destiny,1  and,  as  in  the  case  of  Baldur, 
the  same  symbol  consecrated  the  funebrial  timber,  on  which 
the  lifeless  corpse  was  burned,  and  with  this  sign  the  Norse 
god  restored  the  dead  goats  to  life.2 

This  deity's  mace  was  symbolized  by  wedge-shaped  peb- 
bles, although  the  cuneiform  figure  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  exclusive,  inasmuch  *as  it 
sometimes  assumes  the  form  of  a  cross.3  The 
hammer  is  frequently  found  with  an  outline 
sim  ilar  to  a  cross  cramponee,  thus : 

Numerous  specimens  of  Northern  coins  were  discovered 
in  Denmark,  in  the  year  1835,  each  of  which  shows  an 
effigy  representing  a  four-footed  horned  beast,  upon  which 
sits  a  head,  intended  evidently  for  the  rider. 
In  front  of  this  bust  was  the  sign  of  Thor's 
hammer,  Miolner,  a  cross  cramponee.  Four, 
of  the  collection  noted,  exhibit  this  symbol, 
together  with  the  valiant  god's  name,  in 
Runic  characters.  The  rudest  coin  of  the 
number  displayed  no  cruciform  outline,  but  contained  a 
four  pointed  star. 

Among  the  weapons  belonging  to  the 
stone  period  found  in  Denmark,  are 
many  flint  mallets,  cross-shaped,  having 
a  hole  at  the  intersection  for  the  haft  to 
to  be  inserted. 

Baring  Gould4  conjectures,  that  as  the 

1  Geijer,  History  of  Sweden,  Vol.  I.,  p.  31 ;  Thrymskvidha,  Str.  30.  At  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  candidate  for  Masonic  initiation  was  consecrated 
into  the  mysteries  with  a  mallet :  "  Le  V. :  frappe  legerement  trois  coups  de 
maillet  sur  la  t6te  du  compas,  etc."  Regulateur  du  Macon,  p.  32.  The  hammer 
and  chisel  were  hoth  symbolized  in  the  Fellow-craft  degree  at  that  period. 

2  Gylfaginning,  Str.  44,  in  the  younger  Edda.  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie, 
p.  234.    Thor's  hammer,  in  this  connection,  has  an  important  Masonic  allusion. 

3  Baring  Gould,  Curious  Myths  of  the  Middle  Ages,  p.  86.  Still  called,  by  the 
common  people  of  Denmark  and  Sweden,  Thor's  wedges.  Geijer,  History  of 
Sweden,  p.  31. 

4  Curious  Myths  of  the  Middle  Ages,  pp.  86,  87. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


279 


lateral  arms  of  these  implements  could  have  served  little 
martial  purpose,  they  were  used  in  consecrating  sacrificial 
offerings  in  the  mystic  ceremonies  of  Thor's  worship.  One 
of  the  Eddaic  sagas1  details  an  interesting  interview  be- 
tween Earl  Sigurd  and  King  Hakon,  who,  it  is  asserted, 
was  Athelstane's  foster  son.  The  earl  seized  the  drinking 
horn,  drank  out  of  it,  and  returned  it  to  the  king,  who 
made  the  sign  of  a  cross  over  the  goblet.  Kaare  of  Grey  ting, 
a  spectator  to  all  this,  asked  why  he  did  thus.  Sigurd 
answered:  The  king  is  doing  what  all  of  you  do  who 
trust  in  power  and  strength  :  he  is  invoking  a  blessing 
upon  the  horn  in  Thor's  name,  by  drawing  a  hammer-sign 
over  it  before  he  drinks.2 

Early  mediaeval  cloisters  possessed  a  wooden  hammer, 
which  was  always  sounded  when  a  monk  was  in  dying 
agony,  and  it  was  frequently  symbolized  during  the  con- 
tinuation of  monastic  services.3  German  peasants  make 
the  sign  of  a  cross  to  dispel  a  thunderstorm,  and  is,  no 
doubt,  used  on  account  of  the  resemblance  to  Thor's  mallet. 
Bells,  in  the  European  cathedrals,  were  carefully  marked 
with  the  cruciform  hammer,  and  were  rung  during  severe 
storms  to  avert  the  mighty  thunderbolt. 

Such  crosses  cramponies  are  still  visible  on  the  church 
bells  of  Appleby,  Wadingham,  Bishop's  Norton,  Hather- 


1  Hemiskringla  Saga,  TV.,  c.  18. 

2  "  O'er  his  drinking-horn  the  sign 
He  made  of  the  cross  divine, 

As  he  drank  and  muttered  his  prayers: 
But  the  Berserks  evermore 
Made  the  sign  of  the  hammer  of  Thor, 

Over  their's."  Longfellow,  King  Olaf. 

3  Fosbroke,  Br  itish  Monachism,  pp.  31,  52-54 ;  also,  Du  Cange,  Glossa.  Med. 
et  Infim.  Latinit.  sub  vocibus  Ferula  and  Tabula.  The  custom  referred  to  in 
the  text  noted  is  evidently  an  allusion  to  the  hammer  used  to  slay  aged 
Northmen,  who  esteemed  it  a  favor  to  be  thus  sent  to  Odin.  Kelics  of  similar 
superstition  apparently  existed  among  the  ancient  Scythians.  Plinii,  Hist. 
Natur.,  Lib.  IV.,  c.  12 ;  Pomponius  Mela,  De  Situ  Orbis,  Lib.  III.,  c.  5. 


280 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


sage  in  Derbyshire,  and  Wexborough  in  Yorkshire.1  It 
would  seem  that  the  custom  of  burying  a  hammer  with 
the  dead  was  also  practised  by  the  ancient  Celts.2  The 
same  peculiar  figure,  the  fylot  or  cross,  was  an  emblem 
in  the  Buddhist  religion,  and,  curiously  enough,  it  appears 
upon  the  dress  of  a  fossor,  painted  by  early  Christians  on 
the  walls  of  the  Roman  catacombs.3 

It  clearly  appears  from  the  preceding  proofs,  I  think, 
that  the  Master's  mallet  has  descended  to  modern  Freema- 
sonry invested  with  the  symbolism  of  Thor's  hammer. 
As  previously  stated,  this  implement,  in  the  hand  of  the 
presiding  officer  of  a  lodge,  is  an  emblem  of  authority, 
without  which  he  is  impotent  to  rule  and  govern  the 
assembled  brethren.  This  virtue  inherent  in  the  gavel  is 
directly  derived  from  the  Norse  Miblner,  which  was  tne 
highest  type  of  power,  and  made  its  possessor  irresistible. 
Thus  it  is  with  the  Master  of  a  Masonic  lodge  ;  grasping 
his  mallet,  he  is  immediately  clothed  with  the  symbol  of 
resistless  force  and  power  over  present  emergencies.  It  is 
typical  of  absolutism  and  authority  ; 4  when  wielded  with 
skill  and  energy,  the  Freemason  within  hearing  of  its 
ceaseless  shocks  humbly  bows  to  the  emblem  of  might,  with 
the  same  alacrity  as  the  Northern  Troll  trembled  at  Thor's 
hammer.  It  convenes  the  lodge  of  Masons  as  it  convened 
a  mediaeval  court  of  justice,  by  a  blow,  which  indicates  that 
the  Master  has  assumed  the  symbol  of  his  authority,  and 
calls,  by  virtue  of  the  gavel,  to  order  and  submission. 
When  the  Master  divests  himself  of  this  implement  his 
power  is  at  end,  and  is  unable,  without  it,  to  govern  the 
lodge.    So  when  Thor  lost  his  mallet,  a  portion  of  divine 

1  Gould,  Curious  Myths  of  the  Middle  Ages,  p.  89. 

2  Scottish  Gael,  p.  479. 

3  Gorling,  Geschichte  der  Mahlerei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  66. 

4  Modern  lodges  are  required  to  display  a  charter,  emanating  from  some 
recognized  grand  jurisdiction,  for  purposes  of  regularity;  but,  prior  to  the 
year  1717,  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  subordinate  body  of  Masons  had  warrants, 
as  we  now  understand  them. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


281 


strength  was  gone  ;  being  dispossessed  of  Miolner,  that  re- 
sistless force  which  made  his  adversaries  tremble  was  dis- 
sipated. We  have  already  noted  that  in  the  year  1462  a 
hammer  hurled  by  a  Mason's  arm  symbolized  possession 
of  lodge  territory.  The  gavel  wielded  now  constitutes  the 
Master's  possession  of  the  sacred  precincts  of  a  lodge.  No 
part  of  Masonic  appurtenances  can  claim  an  antiquity  so 
remote  nor  an  origin  so  clear  and  indisputable. 

In  the  Northern  mythology,  Thor's  hammer  was  also  an 
emblem  of  destructive  power,  and,  as  such,  typified  the 
instrument  of  death.  The  mallet,  or  setting  maul,  as  a 
Masonic  symbol,  is  used  for  like  purpose.  It  was  with 
this  weapon  that  the  redoubted  god  of  strength  crushed 
the  skull  of  Hrungnir,1  and  with  Miolner  he  consecrated 
Baldur's  funeral  pyre.  As  already  mentioned,  the  mallet 
was  used  by  the  Scandinavian  priesthood  to  solemnize  the 
burial  ceremonies  or  rites  of  cremation.  From  the  simi- 
larity existing  between  the  Norse  deity's  weapon  as  an 
implement  of  death,  and  the  craft  setting-maul,  the  line  of 
research  leads  with  undeviating  exactness  back  to  an  iden- 
tical origin. 

In  many  countries  adhering  to  the  terrible  worship  of 
the  Northern  divinities,  for  ages  a  mallet  or  club,  in  imi- 
tation of  Miolner,  was  found  behind  the  door  at  each 
domestic  fireside,  to  be  used  in  slaying  the  old  and  infirm.2 
Thus  was  it  doubly  rendered  typical  of  death  ;  and  equally 
symbolical  has  the  hammer  been  transmitted,  with  its 


1  Skaldskap,  c.  17. 

2  Geijer,  History  of  Sweden,  p.  32.  Also  symbol  of  resurrection.  Simrock, 
Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  227.  In  Germany,  a  club  was  usually  substituted  for 
Thor's  hammer,  and,  in  English  churches,  was  hung  up,  with  evident  refer- 
ence to  its  bloody  uses.  The  following  verse  refers  to  the  typical  properties 
of  a  club,  always  suspended  on  the  portal  of  Siiesian  city-gates : 

Wer  seinen  Kindern  giebt  das  Brot 

Und  leidet  dabei  selber  Noth 

Den  schlage  man  mit  dieser  Keule  todt. 

Simrock,  ut  supra,  p.  233. 

17* 


282 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


tragical  attributes,  from  the  hand  of  Thor,  whose  existence 
is  shrouded  in  the  sombreness  of  legendary  gloom,  down 
to  modern  Freemasonry,  where  the  mysteries  of  Hiram  are 
celebrated  with  Miolner's  murderous  representative — the 
setting  maul.  Too  numerous  are  the  points  of  unity  pre- 
sented in  the  systems  —  Teutonic  and  Masonic  —  for  this 
similitude  to  be  casual ;  in  both,  the  instrument  of  death 
and  destruction  was  made  an  emblem  of  mortality,  and  as 
such  it  has  descended  to  our  day. 

In  the  legendary  history  of  the  English  Freemasons,  it 
is  asserted  that  Charles  Martel 1  was  a  patron  to  the  craft, 
and  was  himself  skilled  in  geometric  science.  I  have  pre- 
viously stated  my  reasons  for  believing  that  this  tradition 
was  brought  into  England  by  French  craftsmen,  at  or  about 
the  period  of  the  Norman  conquest. 

In  the  regulations  of  1254,  the  Parisian  stonemasons 
claimed  exemption  from  watch  duty  on  account  of  privi- 
leges which,  they  alleged,  had  descended,  as  "  they  had 
heard  say,"  from  father  to  son.  Curiously  enough,  the 
Gallic  builders  candidly  avowed  this  concession  rested  upon 
no  written  document,  but  was  entirely  legendary.2 

The  connection  of  this  valiant  warrior  with  the  mediaeval 
fraternity  can,  I  think,  be  satisfactorily  explained,  and 
that  it  is  grounded  upon  a  usage  immediately  derived  from 
Germanic  mythology.  '  It  will  be  remembered  that  the 
recurring  symbol  of  operative  Masons  was  a  mallet,  and 
invested  with  divine  power.  Among  the  Northern  nations 
of  Pagan  Europe,  Thor  was  deified  as  the  god  of  battles.3 

No  astonishment  should  be  excited  that  homage  was 
rendered  to  a  divinity  of  such  transcendent  might,  espe- 
cially when  it  is  considered  that  he  was  engaged  in  inces- 

1  See  the  several  Masonic  manuscripts  cited,  and  Hugh  an,  Old  Masonic 
Charges,  passim. 

2  Et  tout  tailleur  de  pierre,  tres  le  tans  Charles  Martel  si  come  li  prudhome 
l'en  oi'  dire  de  pere  a  fils.    Boileau,  Reglemens  des  Metiers  de  Paris,  cap.  xlviii. 

3  Tacitus,  Germania,  c.  9;  Mallet,  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  469. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


283 


sant  and  deadly  struggle  with  frost  giants,  and  other 
beings  who  typified  evil  principles.  The  semi-christian- 
ized Teutonic  warrior,  amid  the  din  of  battle  and  clash  of 
arms,  turned  his  flashing  eyes  towards  his  imaginary  deity, 
as  the  ancient  Goths  had  done  before.  Although,  during 
the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  the  Northern  invaders  of 
France  had  gradually  established  themselves  on  a  firm 
footing  in  Normandy,  the  Romain  language  appears  to  have 
superseded  in  a  great  measure  the  Norse  dialect.  Notwith- 
standing this  idiomatic  transfusion,  numerous  supersti- 
tions of  the  Norseman's  mythology  were  still  perpetuated. 

According  to  Depping,1  in  the  tenth  century,  the  Gallic 
clergy  accorded  to  the  Normans  the  just  commendation 
that  they  scarcely  preserved  the  vestige  of  paganism. 
Amid  all  the  varying  changes  of  religious  creeds,  the  Nor- 
man soldiers  rigidly  clung  to  their  belief  in  the  efficacy  of 
their  ancient  war-god.  In  the  fight  at  Val-des-Dunes,  one 
of  the  Scandinavians  sounded  the  war-cry  of  Teutonic 
antiquity  —  Toraie  —  that  is,  Thor,  help  me  !  while  on  the 
contrary,  William  the  Bastard  yelled  the  Christian  invo- 
cation, Dex  ciie,  or,  God  !  aid  me  ! 2  In  many  cases,  these 
martial  chevaliers  of  Normandy  affected  for  a  long  time 
to  carry  upon  their  weapons  Pagan  devices.3 

The  Northern  soldier,  who  made  his  sacrifices  to  Thor  as 
the  war  deity,  endeavored  to  imitate  him  in  the  irresisti- 

1  Expeditions  Maritimes  des  Normands,  p.  357. 

2  Depping,  Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 

"  Raoul  Tesson  —  i    "  William  crie,  dex  die, 

Poinst  li  cheval  criant  turaie."    I    C'est  l'enseigne  de  Normandie." 

Wace,  Roman  du  Rou,  Tome  II.,  v.  9059. 
"  Plusors  distrient  par  verite, 
Ke  un  deable  aveit  priv6 
Ne  sai  s'estait  lutin  u  nou 
Torret  se  feseit  apeler,  etc." 

Wace,  Ibid.,  v.  9713. 


8  Quelques-uns  m£me  affecterent  longtemps  de  porter  sur  leurs  armes  des 
devises  paiennes.  Thierry,  Conquete  de  V  Angleterre  par  les  Normans,  Tome 
I,  p.  172. 


284 


/ 

TEE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


bility  of  divine  power,  and  in  order  that  the  attempt  might 
have  at  least  the  sanction  of  resemblance,  it  was  natural 
that  he  should  invest  himself  with  the  god's  inimitable 
weapon. 

German  priests,  in  the  celebration  of  the  mystic  rites  of 
Odin,  or  other  principal  divinities  of  Asgard,  wore  the 
symbols  of  their  gods,1  and  this  was  no  doubt  a  custom 
uniformly  practised  by  the  leaders  of  Teutonic  armies. 
Grimm2  conjectures  that  Charles  Martel  carried  the  little 
hammer  in  imitation  of  Miolner,  or  Thor's  mallet.  Pos- 
sessed of  this  implement,  the  bold  warrior  justly  presumed 
that  he  bore  the  symbol  of  a  resistless  might.  It  is  more 
in  harmony  with  the  origin  and  transmission,  perhaps,  of 
traditional  events,  to  assume  that  Charles  Martel  was  thus 
denominated  on  account  of  carrying  a  hammer  as  the 
emblem  of  a  battle  god  —  Thor,  the  German  Mars  —  than, 
as  Depping  asserts,3  by  reason  of  the  vigorous  blows  with 
which  he  so  successfully  hammered  his  Moslem  antagonists. 
Martell  is  a  diminutive  form  of  the  Latin  word  malleus, 
and  signifies  a  small  hammer,4  implying,  in  this  connection, 
that  it  was  not  so  much  a  war  weapon  as  a  symbol  of 
power  that  the  Carlovingian  monarch  wielded  in  battle. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  the  rapid  extension  of  Chris- 
tianity, immediately  after  the  decisive  victory  of  Charles 
Martel  at  Tours,5  subsequently  modified6  this  emblem,  and 


1  Tacitus,  Germania,  c.  7,  and  Histor.,  Lib.  IV.,  c.  22 ;  Simrock,  Deutsche 
Mythologie,  p.  499.  Pilgrims,  during  the  Middle  Ages,  wore  certain  tokens, 
called  signacula,  as  symbols  of  martyrs,  a  custom  derived,  apparently,  from 
the  Norse  priesthood.    Vide  Fosbroke,  British  Monachism,  p.  359. 

2  Carl  Martell,  wie  der  sonst  anders  gedeutete  beiname  zeigt,  mag  ihn  noch 
gefiihrt  haben,  sein  enkel  nicht  mehr.    Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthumer,  p.  64. 

3  Boileau,  Litre  des  Metiers,  cap.  xlviii.,  note  (5),  in  loco. 

*  Hamar,  martel ;  martellus  mediocris  malleus.  Grimm,  Deutsches  Rechts 
alterthumer,  p.  64. 

5  Mariana,  Historia  de  Espana,  Tomo  I.,  p.  328. 

6  Substituted  by  the  sword,  equally  typical  of  power,  or  of  the  mace,  whence 
the  name  of  mason.    Vide  infra,  chap,  xxxvii. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


285 


at  his  death  ceased  apparently  to  be  used,  as  too  Pagan  in 
its  significance.  However,  popular  tradition  touching  so 
distinguished  a  warrior  perpetuated  his  bearing  the  mallet, 
and  evidently  the  early  corporations  of  builders  in  Ger- 
many, or  Byzantine  stonecutters,  in  clinging  to  the  typi- 
cal powers  attributed  to  this  working  tool,  claimed  and 
received  the  favorable  consideration  of  Carlovingian  roy- 
alty, on  the  ground  that  Charles  Martel  had  wielded  the 
hammer  endowed  with  identical  symbolism. 

It  is,  at  all  events,  curious  that  the  Gallic  builders,  in 
the  year  1254,  boldly  asserted  and  obtained  their  right  to  an 
exemption  from  municipal  regulations,  as  having  existed 
from  the  time  of  the  semi-christianized  Frank.  The  as- 
sumption of  a  remote  antiquity,  ascending  to  the  age  of 
that  monarch,  is  definite  and  unequivocal,  and  thus  early 
in  the  thirteenth  century  the  Masons  of  Paris  traced  their 
corporate  existence  to  an  origin  coeval,  at  least,  with  the 
Carlovingian  kings. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

The  Three  Symbolic  Columns  of  a  Lodge  —  Taken  from  Norse 
Temple  Furniture  —  Their  Prototypes  in  Upsala —Pedestals 
of  Principal  Deities  of  Northern  Mythology  —  Odin,  Thor, 
and  Frey  —  These  Signify  Wisdom,  Strength,  and  Beauty  — 
Shibboleth,  or  Frey,  Productiveness  —  Her  Emblem  —  Three 
Emblematic  Lights  of  Freemasons  —  Their  Pagan  Origin  and 
Reference  to  the  Divinities  Mentioned  —  North,  why  a  Place 
of  Darkness  —  Exact  Orientation  of  Gothic  Court  Repro- 
duced in  a  Masonic  Lodge  —  East,  West,  South  —  The  North  — 
Stars  in  Lodge  Derived  from  Open-air  Assemblage. 

MODERN  Masonic  lodge,  in  its  appointments, 
possesses  three  symbolic  columns — one  of  which 
is  situate  in  the  east,  one  in  the  west,  another 
in  the  south.  They  represent  the  essential  ele- 
ments which  constitute  the  support  of  the  fraternity,  and 
in  their  idealist  allusion,  are  the  pillars  of  the  universe. 
NText  to  the  symbolism  of  a  Master's  gavel,  perhaps,  no 
lodge  appliance  is  so  plainly  derived  from  a  Northern 
source  as  these  columns,  severally  designated  as  Wisdom, 
Strength,  and  Beauty.  Whether  the  more  ancient  Scan- 
dinavians performed  sacred  rites  before  their  divinities  in 
enclosed  edifices  is  uncertain ;  but  that  they  ultimately 
erected  houses  of  worship  for  them,  is  attested  by  undis- 
puted history. 

At  the  time  Adam  of  Bremen1  wrote  his  chronicles  on 


1  Vide  Geijer,  History  of  Sweden,  p.  35. 

286 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


287 


the  condition  of  Denmark,  a  magnificent  temple  still  ex- 
isted at  Upsala.1 

In  this  temple  the  images  of  the  three  principal  deities 
of  the  Xorth  were  erected,  each  represented  with  an 
appropriate  symbol.2  Odin  held  a  sword ;  Thor  stood  at 
the  left  hand  of  Odin,  grasping  his  mallet,  and  Frey,  at 
Thor's  side,  was  invested  with  the  emblem  of  a  hermaph- 
rodite, to  typify  productiveness  or  plenty.3 

The  Erybygga  Saga4  relates  that  Thorolf,  in  migrating 
to  Iceland,  carried  with  him  Thor's  throne,  the  image  of 
the  mace-bearer,  and  the  wood-work  of  the  temple.  Upon 
approaching  the  island,  the  hardy  mariner  cast  the  columns 
of  his  idol's  sanctuary  into  the  sea,  and  declared  his  in- 
tention of  settling  wherever  the  current  carried  them. 
Geijer5  says  the  father  of  a  family  usually  surrounded  his 
high  seat  with  pillars,  upon  which  were  carved  images  of 
the  gods.  An  ordinary  Scandinavian  temple  was  a  large 
wooden  banqueting  hall,  with  a  small  recess  at  one  end. 
In  the  winter  a  lire  was  kindled  exactly  in  the  centre  of 
the  edifice  —  the  smoke  arising  from  the  burning  wood 
found  its  way  out  through  apertures  in  the  roof.  On  the 
south  side  of  the  hall,  directly  opposite  the  fire,  was  an 
elevated  seat  raised  on  steps,  and  flanked  by  two  wooden 
columns,  carved  with  Runic  inscriptions  and  ornamented 
with  figures  of  Odinic  divinities.6 

1  Adam  Bremen.  De  Situ  Daniae,  c.  233. 

2  Quod  adeo  magnifico  apparatu  constructum  venerabatur,  ut  nihil  in  ejus 
parietibus,  laqueariis,  aut  colurnnis,  nisi  auro  splendidum  videretur.  Olaus 
Magnus,  Histor.  Septentr.  var.  Condit,,  Lib.  III.,  cap.  vi. 

3  Mallet,  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  110;  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  496. 
According  to  Olaus  Magnus,  ut  supra,  p.  99,  Thor  was  represented  with  a  mace 
in  hand  and  twelve  stars  surrounding  his  head.  Erat  in  capite  ejus  corona 
et  in  manu  scepterem  atque  in  circuitu  duodecim  stellae. 

4  Mallet,  ut  supra,  printed  verbatim  from  Illustrations  of  Northern  Antiquities, 
Vol.  I.,  4th  ed.,  1814. 

6  History  of  Sweden,  p.  31. 

6  Mallet,  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  285.  It  was  no  unusual  thing  for  guild 
halls,  following  their  original  prototype  —  temples  —  to  have  three  grades  of 


288 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


The  Saxon  Irminsaul  appears  to  have  been  a  sacred 
column  surmounted  by  an  image,1  and  this,  Tacitus2 
declares,  was  sometimes  brought  out  and  carried  in  the 
van  of  battle.  Whether  the  deities  in  the  temple  of  Upsala 
were  placed  upon  elevated  pedestals,  does  not  clearly  ap- 
pear ;  that  pillars  were  dedicated  to  the  several  gods 
designated,  is  manifest.  Therefore  Odin,  Thor,  and  Frey 
each  had  a  column,  upon  which  an  effigy  was  set,  or  the 
pillar  was  in  some  manner  associated  with  their  worship, 
and  symbolized  the  divinity. 

The  word  Odin,  according  to  Grimm,3  signifies  the  wise 
or  wisdom,  and  in  this  view  Thorpe,4  the  learned  philolo- 
gist, entirely  concurs.  The  latter  traces  the  derivation  to 
the  Brahmin  god  Budha,  which  also  means  the  wise.5 
Consequently,  the  pillar  consecrated  to  Odin  became  the 
column  of  Wisdom. 

So  far  as  relates  to  Thor,  one  of  the  three  deities  men- 
tioned, we  have  elaborated  at  length  that  he  was  the  type 
of  power,  and  the  column  to  him  stands  as  the  column  of 
Strength. 

The  derivation  of  Frey  is  equally  satisfactory.  Grimm8 
traces  this  word  through  the  ancient  Teutonic  dialects,  and 
explains  it  to  signify  plenty  and  beauty.7    Therefore  the 

seats  in  the  ascending  scale.  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  des  Mittelalters,  p.  216. 
High  seat  in  guild.  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  214.  Members 
also  have  regular  seats.  Item  siquis  frater  vel  sorer  presumat  capere  scannum 
alterius.    Smith,  English  Guilds,  p.  218. 

1  Wirth,  Geschichte  der  Deutschen,  Bd.  I.,  p.  167 ;  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythol- 
ogie,  p.  262. 

2  Effigies  et  signa  quaedam  detracta  lucis  in  proclium  ferunt.  Germania, 
cap.  7. 

3  Deutsche  Mythologie,  voce,  Odin;  also,  Simrock,  ubi  sup-a,  pp.  210,  212. 

4  Ut  supra,  Vol.  I.,  p.  166. 

6  Ibid.,  loc.  cit.    King,  The  Gnostics  and  their  Remains,  p.  1 8. 

6  Deutsche  Mythologie,  pp.  191,  279. 

7  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  197,  198.  Simulachru  Frigge, 
tertio  loco,  pulchrudinis,  Dea  credabatus.  Olaus  Magnus,  Hist.  Sept.  var.  Cond.} 
Lib.  III.,  c.  vi. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


289 


pillar  of  this  goddess  became  the  column  of  Beauty,  or 
plenteousness.  These  three  divinities  were  the  typical 
supports  of  the  universe — Wisdom,  Strength,  and  Beauty  ; 1 
and  the  columns  still  existing  in  a  lodge  of  Freemasons 
symbolize  the  moralistic  pillars  of  the  world,  represented 
by  the  lodge  itself.  An  additional  significant  fact  con- 
fronts us  at  this  point :  the  column  of  Beauty  or  Plenty, 
originally  emblematic  of  Frey,  is  situate  in  the  south  of 
the  lodge.  A  Masonic  symbol  —  sheaf  of  grain  —  always 
suspended  above  that  station,  denotes  plenteousness. 

The  allusion  to  the  fructifying  powers  of  this  divinity 
is  explicit,  and  evidently  symbolizes  the  maturing  prop- 
erties of  the  southern  sun  in  hastening  corn,  etc.,  to  ripe 
perfection.  The  usual  interpretation  of  this  emblem  is 
deduced  from  the  Hebraic  word  shabal,  to  flow,  and  alleged 
to  be  synonymous  with  abundance  or  plenty.  Shibboleth, 
derived  from  that  root,  in  the  paraphrastic  translation  of 
the  Vulgate  Testament  made  during  the  early  Middle  Ages, 
is  rendered  an  ear  of  corn. 

Thorpe2  has  conclusively  proved  that  the  ear  of  corn 
was  a  symbol  of  the  Northern  goddess  Frey,  and  a  type  of 
productive  nature.3  Evidently  this  symbolic  reference  has 
been  conjoined  at  some  period  with  the  Judaic  significa- 
tion, but  at  what  epoch  remains  to  be  seen.  Whenever 
the  fusion  occurred  it  was  apparently  accepted  as  express- 
ing accurately  and  entirely  the  secret  meaning  of  Shibbo- 
leth and  Frey's  symbol.  This  mutual  interchange,  if  made 
at  all,  was  accomplished  in  an  age  when  the  traditions  of 


1  In  Jewish  philosophy,  the  Hebrew  sephiroth  stood  forth  in  the  form  of  a 
circle,  or  other  shape,  including  ten  columns,  three  of  which  were  designated 
as  Sapientia,  Pulchrudito,  and  Fundamentum,  synonymous  with  the  three 
pillars  mentioned  in  the  text.  Buddeus,  Inlroduct.  ad  Hist.  Philoso.  Ebraeor., 
p.  277 ;  Bruckerius,  Instit.  Hislor.  Philosophiae,  Part  I.,  Lib.  II.,  cap.  iii. 

2  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  198. 

3  As  such  Frey  was  sometimes  represented  ingenti  priapo.  Vide  Simrock, 
Deutsche  Mythologie.    Also  afe  goddess  of  love.    Olaus  Mag.,  op  cit.,  p.  100. 

25  T 


290 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


worship  of  that  goddess  were  still  preserved,  and  the 
emblem  fully  comprehended  in  its  allusions  to  Prey  or 
plenty. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  early  Christian  missionaries 
endeavored,  so  far  as  practicable,  to  harmonize  the  religious 
observances  of  Christ  and  the  heathen  Teutons.  In 
numerous  instances,  old  Norse  customs  which  alluded 
directly  to  Pagan  mythology  were  altered  only  so  far  as 
to  furnish  a  slightly  variant  objective  point,1  and  by  this 
means  much  that  originally  represented  the  fast  fading 
doctrines  of  the  North  maintained,  under  a  Christian  garb, 
a  vigorous  vitality.  It  is  fairly  inferred  that  the  similarity 
which  presents  itself  in  Frey's  ear  of  corn  and  Shibboleth, 
a  sheaf  of  wheat,  can  be  assigned  to  this  policy  practised 
by  early  Christian  evangelists. 

The  symbolic  lights  of  a  lodge,  respectively  stationed  in 
the  east,  west,  and  south,  are  also  traceable  to  the  Pagan 
superstitions  of  Teutonic  mythology.  Although  this  con- 
nection cannot  be  established  with  historical  precision, 
sufficient  evidence  still  extant  may  be  gleaned  from  medi- 
aeval court  usages,  which  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  these 
■flaming  fires  were  originally  associated  with  the  temple 
worship  of  Odin,  Thor,  and  Frey. 

The  symbol  of  the  last  named  divinity  was  the  sun,  and 
typified  the  Seminator,  the  Fructifier,  and  Beauteous. 
It  would  seem  that  the  lights  mentioned  were  placed 
before  the  columns  of  these  deities,  and  directly  referred 
to  their  several  attributes.  For  instance,  in  the  case  of 
Frey,2  the  sun  delineated  in  the  south  was  understood  to 


1  Grimm,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  pp.  191-279. 

2  Perhaps  the  pillar  of  this  goddess  symbolized  a  decided  priapic  tendency, 
as  the  setting  up  of  columns  was  anciently  a  favorite  means  of  invocation  in 
phallic  worship.  Westropp  and  Wake,  Influence  of  the  Phallic  Idea  in  the  Re- 
ligions of  Antiquity,  p.  60.  There  was  a  secret  society  in  France,  as  late  as 
the  eleventh  century,  for  the  observance  of  priapic  rites.  Payne  Knight,  On 
the  Worship  of  Priapus,  etc.,  p.  182. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


291 


signify  the  potential  means  of  producing  plenty  —  em- 
blematic of  that  divinity. 

In  the  old  Eddaic  sagas,  the  moon,  which  is  masculine, 
symbolizes  Odin,  since  it  is  said  in  Ragnerock,  or  Twilight 
of  the  Gods,1  that  the  wolf  shall  swallow  up  Odin,  and  at 
the  same  time  destroy  the  moon.2  Scandinavian  mythology 
declared  that  light  existed  before  the  sun  ;  and  that  the 
moon  was  created  first,  the  sun  afterwards.3  But  in  what 
respect  the  third  light  alluded  to  Thor  is,  perhaps,  impos- 
sible to  elucidate.4  I  have  previously  mentioned  this 
deity's  mallet  as  a  symbol  of  power  and  authority  in 
the  Master's  hand,  and  that  this  officer,  invested  with  his 
gavel,  typifies  Thor.  Without  doubt  a  subrogation  of 
personality  has  occurred,  so  far  as  the  present  reference 
goes,  and,  in  consequence,  the  flame  which,  in  its  ancient 
character,  added  additional  pomp  to  the  mystic  ceremonies 
of  the  divine  Hammer-Bearer,  by  an  unaccountable  trans- 
formation, now  is  the  unwavering  emblem  of  his  substitute. 

The  early  mediaeval  custom  of  lighting  three  fires5  in  a 
house,  is  apparently  traceable  to  the  symbolic  lights  of  a 
Norse  temple. 

In  a  Masonic  lodge,  no  light  appears  on  the  north  side. 
The  north  was  especially  symbolized  in  judicial  procedure 
of  the  Middle  Ages.  Below  the  judges,  on  the  right, 
stood  the  accuser  or  complainant ;  on  the  left  was  the 


1  Gylfag tuning,  Str.  51. 

2  "  Dasz  der  Wolf  die  Sonne  verschlingt ;  derandre  Wolf  den  Mond  packen." 
Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  112;  Gylfaginntng,  loc.  cit. 

3  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  143. 

4  Completing  the  usual  trilogy,  it  would  be  the  stars  substituted  by  Thor's 
burning  taper.  In  the  Upsala  temple,  he  was  delineated  with  twelve  stars 
encircling  his  head.  In  circuitu  duodecim  stellae.  Olaus  Mag.,  Hist.  Sept. 
vari.  Oondid.,  Lib.  III.,  cap.  vi.  Stars  still  stud  the  frescoed  walls  of  lodges. 
Symbolical  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Regulateur  du  Macon  (Grade  du  Com- 
pagne),  I.,  p.  6.  Nine  above  master.  Ibid.  (Grade  du  Maitre),  I.,  pp.  10-30. 
Stars  in  lodge  vault.    Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Freimaurer,  p.  216. 

6  Drei  feuer  im  haus.    Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthiimer,  p.  209. 


292  THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 

 V 

accused  or  defendant ;  the  former  in  the  south  facing  north, 
the  latter  in  the  north  looking  to  the  south.1 

The  earliest  record  of  the  old  Teutonic  tribunals 
appointed  these  several  positions  for  the  suitors  at  law. 
In  the  centre  of  the  court,  directly  before  the  judge,  stood 
an  altar-piece  or  shrine,2  upon  which  an  open  Bible  was 
displayed.3  The  south,  to  the  right4  of  the  justiciaries, 
was  deemed  honorable  and  worthy  for  a  plaintiff;  but  the 
north  was  typical  of  a  frightful  and  diabolical  sombreness.5 
When  a  party  was  put  to  his  proofs  in  grievous  criminal 
accusations,  and  made  a  solemn  oath  of  purgation,  his  face 
turned  towards  the  north ;  and  in  other  cases  of  a  less 
aggravated  character,  when  obligated,  he  faced  the  east. 

The  judicial  headsman,  in  executing  the  extreme  penalty 
of  outraged  justice,  turned  the  convict's  face  northward, 
or  towards  the  place  whence  emanated  the  earliest,  dismal 
shades  of  night.6  When  Earl  Hakon  bowed  a  tremulous 
knee  before  the  deadly  powers  of  Paganism,  and  sacrificed 
his  seven-year-old  child,  he  gazed  out  upon  the  far-off, 
gloomy  north.7 

In  Nastrond,  or  shores  of  death,  stood  a  revolting 


1  Unten  vor  richter  und  urtheilern,  stand  rechts  der  Klager,  links  der  Be- 
klagte  oder  schuldige ;  jener  mithin  gegen  suden,  dieser  gegen  norden.  Ibid., 
p.  808. 

2  This  was  usually  designated  as  holy-dome,  and  contained  relicts  of  a 
patron  saint.  The  earliest  Christian  oaths  were  evidently  sworn  upon  the 
sainted  shrine,  and  without  the  sacred  Scriptures.  By  a  guildic  statute,  passed 
in  1350,  it  is  ordained  that  the  new  members  be  sworn  on  the  holidome:  and 
therto  havn  yie  sworon  on  the  holidom.  Return  of  Norwich  Guild,  No.  XII. ; 
Smith,  English  Guilds,  p.  36.  Later,  in  1494,  to  the  holidome  is  added :  "and 
by  this  boke."  Ibid.,  p.  189. 

3  Lacroix,  Les  Moeurs  et  Usages  au  May  en  Age,  p.  379. 

4  Teutonic  judges  generally  sat  in  the  west,  facing  east.    Vide  infra. 

5  Mitternacht  und  norden  hatte  aber  insgemein  den  begriff  des  schauerlichen, 
traurigen  und  bosen.    Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthiimer,  p.  808. 

6  Der  nachrichter  kehrt  den  armen  Sunder  der  enthauptet  soil  das  gesicht 
gegen  die  nachtseite.  Ibid. 

7  Ibid.,  loc.  ciL 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


293 


hall,  whose  portals  opened  towards  the  north  —  the 
regions  of  night.1  iSTorth,  by  the  Jutes,  was  denomi- 
nated black  or  sombre ;  the  Frisians  called  it  fear-corner. 
The  gallows  faced  the  north,  and  from  these  hyperborean 
shores  everything  base  and  terrible  proceeded.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  belief,  it  was  ordered  that,  in  the  adjudica- 
tion of  a  crime,  the  accused  should  be  on  the  north  side  of 
the  court  enclosure.2  And  in  harmony  with  the  Scandina- 
vian superstition,  no  lodge  of  Masons  illuminates  the 
darkened  north  with  a  symbolic  light,  whose  brightness 
would  be  unable  to  dissipate  the  gloom  of  that  cardinal 
point  with  which  was  associated  all  that  was  sinstrous  and 
direful.3 

In  its  details,  a  Masonic  lodge,  either  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, imitated  the  ^orse  tribunals  ;  and  the  superstitious 
notions  of  ancient  Scandinavians  touching-  the  north  —  the 
deadly  night  —  were  ingrafted  into  craft  formularies.  An 


1  Einen  Saal  seh  ich,  der  sonne  fern, 
In  Nastrond  ;  die  Thiiren  sind  nordwarts  gekehrt. 
Gifttropfen  fallen  durch  die  Fenster  nieder; 
Aus  Schlangenriicken  1st  der  Saal  gewunden 
Im  starrenden  strome  stehen  da  und  waten 
Meuchelmorder  und  meineidige. 
Voluspd,  Str.  42,  Simrock's  trans. ;  also,  the  later  Edda,  Gylfaginning,  Str.  52. 

2  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthumer,  p.  809. 

3  Conformable  to  the  idea  involved  in  this  symbolism,  the  early  Christian 
ecclesiastics  assigned  seats  on  the  north  side  to  new  proselytes,  and  was  em- 
blematic of  that  darkness  of  unbelief  from  which  they  had  barely  escaped. 
An  old  Apprentice's  catechism,  preserved  by  Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Freimaurer, 
p.  243,  presents  the  same  conception : 

"Wo  haben  die  Lehrlinge  ihrer  Platz? 
"  A.  In  nor  den. 

"  Waram  werdet  ihr  Freimaurer? 

"  A.  Weil  ich  in  Finsterniss  war,  und  das  Licht  sehen  wollte." 

At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  candidate  for  the  degree  of  En- 
tered Apprentice  was  stationed  directly  in  the  north,  for  the  reason  that  he 
was  typically  able  to  sustain  but  a  feeble  light:  "  Au  septrion,  parce  qu'ils  ne 
peuvent  soutenir  qu'une  faible  lumiere."  Regulateur  du  Macon  (Grade  d'Ap.), 
pp.  36-39. 

25  * 


294 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


impression  obtains,  that  lodge  lights  are  to  be  interpreted 
to  signify  three  windows,  opening  respectively  in  the  south, 
west,  and  east ;  this  assumption  is  unquestionably  incor- 
rect, and  lacks  the  essential  elements,  as  usually  elucidated, 
of  symbolism. 

If  the  foregoing  illustrations,  drawn  from  the  Eddaic 
songs,  be  accepted  as  correct,  a  far  more  sublime  idea  was 
typified  than  isolated  openings  in  an  oblong  workshop. 
Moreover,  J.  Van  Eyck's  painting  in  the  Louvre,  still 
extant,  presents  a  stonecutters'  lodge,  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, without  three  principal  lights  as  outlooks  for  the 
Master  and  his  Wardens.  In  addition  to  this,  the  Torgau 
ordinance  of  14621  unequivocally  enacts :  "  That  any  Fellow- 
craftsman  failing  to  close  the  shutters  of  the  window  at 
his  work-bench,  after  lodge  has  ceased  labor,  shall  be  pun- 
ished." Lodges  of  mediaeval  builders  were  too  numerous 
around  large  structures  to  permit  a  close  attachment  to  the 
south  wall  of  the  edifice,  and  thus  render  the  north  side 
of  the  lodge  "  a  place  of  darkness."2  On  the  contrary, 
that  point  of  the  compass  embodied,  among  Masons,  the 
symbolism  which  originated  in  the  burning  lights  conse- 
crated to  the  Northern  divinities. 

The  covering  or  canopy  of  a  Masonic  lodge  is  bedecked 
with  stars,  and  is,  evidently,  taken  from  the  emblems  used 
in  ancient  Teutonic  temples,  which  represented  the  uni- 
verse supported  by  columns  of  Odin,  Thor,  or  Frey.  Civil 
tribunals  of  the  early  Middle  Ages,  or  at  least  of  the 
Christianized  Germans,  were  convened  under  the  open 
heavens.3    At  a  subsequent  period,  when  courts  assembled 

1  Were  die  fenster  bey  seiner  Bank  nicht  zuthut,  der  soil  geben  iii.  kr.  alle- 
mal  zu  pusse.    Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen,  Art.  69. 

2  The  window  theory  and  side-wall  protection  notion  may  be  found  in 
Krause,  Die  Drei  celtesten  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  I.,  Ab.  2,  p.  361. 

8  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthiimer,  p.  793.  That  a  close  union  existed 
between  Norse  tribunals  of  justice  and  the  temples,  is  beyond  question. 
Almost  invariably,  courts  were  convoked  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  these 
sacred  edifices,  and  directly  in  front.    Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  492. 


« 

ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


295 


within  doors,  in  order  to  perpetuate  the  Paganistic  symbol- 
ism, they  appear  to  have  been  tinged  with  a  blue  sky 
studded  with  golden  stars.  This  coloring,  which  portrayed 
the  cerulean  heaven,  may  yet  be  seen  in  Gothic  cathedrals 
over  the  main  altar.  It  was  the  usual  custom  of  mission- 
ary Christian  architects  to  erect  edifices  for  the  new  wor- 
ship upon  the  site  of  Pagan  temples,  and  on  ground  where 
holy  trees  grew,  under  whose  wide-spreading  branches 
courts  of  justice  were  opened.1 

As  already  noted,  the  evangelists  endeavored,  and  with 
success,  to  harmonize  the  immemorial  religious  observ- 
ances of  the  heathens  with  the  religious  usages  of  Christian 
faith ;  and,  in  consequence,  earlier  architecture  betrayed 
the  cloudy,  canopied  heavens,  typifying  the  expansive 
vault  of  the  universe.  As  a  symbol  of  the  world,  still 
idealized  by  a  lodge  of  Masons,  an  azure-colored  dome, 
strewn  with  stars,  accurately  expresses  the  original  design 
of  the  Upsala  temple  —  a  signification  which  the  lapse  of 
ages  has  not  changed. 

Blue  has  always  been  esteemed  by  the  Teutonic  races  as 
an  emblem  of  fidelity  and  fortitude  f  in  many  German 
provinces  a  blue  banner  was  carried  in  processions  as  a 
sign  of  faithfulness  and  friendship.3 

Not  unfrequently  this  color  was  worn  by  mourners  in 
unfading  remembrance  of  the  dead.4  The  most  solemn 
oath  known  to  the  ancient  Teuton  was  sworn  on  a  blue 


During  the  Middle  Ages,  justice  was  administered,  in  a  summary  way,  in  the 
church  porch.  Fosbroke,  British  Monachism,  p.  262.  Same  custom  known  to 
the  ancient  Komans.  Liv.,  Hist.  Rom.,  Tome  I.,  30.  The  Scandinavian 
priesthood,  in  Pagan  times,  assumed  the  duties  of  judicature  as  direct  sub- 
stitutes of  the  god  of  justice.  Dahlmann,  Geschichte  von  Dannemark,  Bd.  III., 
p.  118.  Preference  was  shown  for  the  curtilage  surrounding  a  mediaeval 
church,  on  which"  trials  were  called  by  proclamation.  Simrock,  ut  supra; 
also,  p.  475. 

1  Grimm,  op.  cit.f  p.  805.  2  Grimm,  Altdeutsche  Walder,  Bd.  I. 

3  Das  Niebelungen  Lied,  Str.  1623. 

*  Creuzer,  Symbolik  und  Mythologie  der  Alten,  Bd.  IV.,  p.  597. 


296 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


stone.1  This  is  evidently  the  derivative  source  whence 
Masonic  altars,  covered  with  blue,  have  emanated.  Equal 
reverence  appears  to  have  been  accorded  by  Druids  to  this 
color.2  The  conception  involved  in  this  symbolism  has 
survived  to  modern  Freemasons,  who  designate  their 
places  of  assembling  by  the  name  of  "  blue  lodges" — typical 
of  that  unalterable  constancy  and  zeal  expressed  by  the 
ancient  emblem. 

A  Masonic  lodge  is  situate  due  east  and  west,  and,  in 
this  respect,  it  is  said  to  resemble  King  Solomon's  temple. 
The  Israelites,  during  the  period  of  Egyptian  bondage, 
were  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  tinctured  with  strange 
doctrines  ;  and  in  view  of  this  fact,  Moses  changed  the 
orientation  of  the  tabernacle,  in  order  that  it  might  present 
as  few  points  in  common  as  possible  with  the  temples  of 
Egypt. 

These  edifices,  according  to  Spencer,3  were  entered  from 
the  west,  and  their  most  sacred  furniture  and  ritualistic 
utensils  faced  the  east.  Solomon's  temple  at  Jerusalem, 
as  an  exact  counterpart  of  the  Mosaic  tabernacle,  pos- 
sessed no  entrance  at  the  west ;  which  end  was  perpetually 
closed  by  a  wall,  to  exclude  the  profane  from  the  sanc- 
tum sanctorum,4  which,  moreover,  was  turned  westward. 
Through  portals  in  the  east  the  Jews  entered  the  edifice 
for  worship.5  Immediately  upon  entering,  the  devout 
Israelite  advanced  by  the  north  side  towards  the  west,  the 
objective  point  of  his  worship  ;  and  in  departing  from  the 
building,  if  he  retrograded  with  his  face  directed  westward, 
the  south  side  was  to  the  left.6    From  this,  it  sufficiently 

1  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythohgie,  pp.  475-485.  Vide  Ind,  pag.  De  his  quae 
faciunl  super  petras.  Painted  ceilings.  See  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture  in 
England,  p.  281. 

2  "  In  all  official  acts,  the  bard  wore  his  sky-colored  robe."  Turner,  Hist. 
AngL-Sax.,  Bk.  II.,  ch.  3. 

3  De  Legib.  Hebraor.  Ritucdib.,  II.,  p.  308. 

*  Joseph.  De  Bello.  Jud.,  Lib.  VI.,  916.       5  Spencer,  op.  cit.,  II.,  p.  309. 
6  Ea  via  egredetur  quod  sinistram  erat  hoc  est  ad  meridem.    Spencer,  De 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


297 


appears  that  the  Jewish  temple  was  orientated  directly  the 
reverse  of  a  Masonic  lodge.  However,  it  is  a  rational  con- 
clusion that  early  Christian  evangelists  to  Northern  nations, 
in  attempting  to  reconcile  the  two  religious  systems,  were 
either  ignorant  of  the  exact  orientation  of  the  sacred  edi- 
fice  at  Jerusalem,  which  is  possible,  or  adopted  the  Ger- 
manic symbolism  of  east  and  west  location,  with  which 
the  ground  plans  of  Christian  churches  coincided.1  Here 
again  the  remarkable  similitude,  already  traced,  between 
Gothic  courts  and  a  lodge,  prominently  appears.  The 
situation  of  these  tribunals  was  due  east  and  west. 

Mediaeval  courts  were  sometimes  entered  at  the  east  ;2 
but  the  gate,  or  ingress,  of  the  Welsh  tribunal  was  in  the 
west.3  Consequently,  the  holy  enclosure  of  the  last  named 
court  presented  a  uniformity  with  Masonic  lodges  which 
was  not  shared  by  the  former;  but  this  dissimilarity  is 
purely  unsubstantial,  since  the  idea  of  orientation  in 
both  instances  was  identical,  as  will  clearly  appear.  The 
presiding  judge,  in  a  Gothic  court,  sat  in  the  west,  with 


Leg.  Hebraor.  RUualib.,  II.,  p.  313.  The  Jews  were  not  permitted  to  enter  the 
temple  with  either  staff  or  sandal,  nor  allowed  to  leave  the  edifice  except  in 
a  prescribed  form :  "  Ne  tergum  ant  illae  posterioris  corporis  partes  sanctuaris 
obverterentur."  Ibid.,  p.  130.  Vide  Buddeus,  Antiq.  Veter.  Hebraeorum.,  Lib. 
I.,  cap.  vii. 

1  Spencer,  op.  cit.,  p.  308,  notes  the  difference  of  orientation  between  the 
Jewish  and  Christian  temples:  Contra  quam  Christanorum  mos  est  in  quorum 
sacris  aedibus  altare  versus  orientem,  vestibulum  versus  occidentum  colocare 
solent.  The  early  churches  were  not  directed  towards  a  particular  point  of 
the  compass  until  about  the  fourth  century,  at  which  epoch  every  inconve- 
nience was  submitted  to,  in  order  to  secure  an  exact  east  and  west  orientation. 
Hope.  Historical  Essay  on  Architecture,  p.  112.  How  closely  sacred  edifices 
were  made  to  conform  to  the  precise  orbit  of  the  sun,  even  to  a  deviation 
on  the  two  days  of  the  year  when  that  luminary  deviates  from  a  straight  line, 
see  Hope,  op.  cit.,  p.  442.  Same  design  in  Norman  architecture.  Poole,  Ec- 
clesiastical Architecture  in  England,  p.  147. 

2  Legenda  Bonifacii,  Lib.  II.,  cap.  8.  Quod  judex  cum  assessoribus  suis  pos- 
sint  videri  a  capite  usque  ad  scapula,  introitus  versus  orientem  apertus. 

3  Grimm,  Bechts  Alterthumer,  p.  809. 


298 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


his  face  directly  towards  the  east.1  As  previously  ob- 
served, the  passageway  into  the  arena  of  the  tribunal  was 
in  the  west  end. 

This  entrance  was  placed  under  the  custody  or  guard  of 
some  person  judicially  appointed,2  and  was  closed  by  a 
hazel  paling,  before  described,  and  answered  to  a  gate. 
Perhaps  this  fact  may  furnish  a  thread  of  research,  which 
might  terminate  in  a  solution  of  the  phraseology,  south, 
west,  and  east  gates,  still  current  in  modern  Masonic 
bodies.  Whenever  the  judge  opened  his  court,  or  engaged 
in  other  impressive  rites,  his  face  must  turn  with  unerring 
directness  toward  that  point  of  the  compass  whence  ema- 
nated the  glittering  rays  of  sunlight.  At  the  conclusion 
of  the  colloquy,  which  ensued  between  the  arbiter  and  his 
subordinates,  he  turned  toward  the  rising  orb  of  day,  and 
proclaimed  a  court  duly  organized,  amid  the  flashing  rays 
of  sunrise  reflected  from  an  unsheathed  sword. 

At  the  opening  ceremonies  the  judge  arose,  and  with  a 
naked  sword  in  his  right  hand,  pronounced  the  unvarying 
formula  that  peace  and  harmony  should  prevail  within  the 
consecrated  area  ;  thereupon  the  court  was  declared  opened 
in  due  form.3  In  the  Welsh  tribunals,  the  judiciary  sat  in 
the  east,  facing  directly  the  reverse,  in  order,  as  was  al- 
leged, that  the  bright  glowing  light  might  not  dazzle  the 
eye.  But  Grimm  justly  states  that  here,  as  in  the  Scandi- 
navian courts,  the  details  and  symbolism  of  orientation 
were  uniform.4  By  the  ancient  Germans,  property  was 
transferred  under  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun,  and  involved 


1  Ibid.,  p.  807.  Schauberg,  Symbolik  der  Freimaurerei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  409,  touches 
incidentally  upon  ancient  court  location,  but  fails  to  pursue  the  line  of  analogy. 

2  Custoderi  ejusmodi  introitus  debet  per  eum  cui  judicialiter  adjudicatum 
fuerit.  Grimm,  Deutsche  Re.  Alterth.,  p.  807.  Illustration,  in  Lacroix,  Les 
Moeurs  et  Usages  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  373,  of  Charlemagne,  with  drawn  sword  in 
hand,  as  a  judge;  also  (p.  375),  seated  on  a  throne,  with  Sapientia  —  wisdom 
—  surrounding  his  head. 

3  Grimm,  ut  supra,  pp.  807,  808.  4  Ibid.,  p.  809. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


299 


the  same  conception  permeating  Gothic  judicature — the 
invocation  of  ^NTorse  deities  in  legal  proceedings.  Transfer 
of  real  estate  was  placed  under  the  especial  sanction  and 
patronage  of  the  sun  or  Frey  —  typical  of  the  ever-produc- 
ing earth.1 

As  connected  with  this  system  of  tenure,  it  may  be  of 
interest  to  add  that  the  accession  of  nobility  to  power  was 
symbolized  by  the  ancient  Teutons.  For  instance,  the 
newly-installed  possessor  of  a  shire,  between  Helmstatt  and 
Wolfenbiittel,  exactly  at  sunrise,  with  a  naked  poniard, 
drew  three  strokes  crosswise  in  the  ascending  light.  How- 
ever, for  the  history  of  the  craft,  it  is  of  greater  importance 
to  mention,  whenever  a  Hungarian  monarch  was  crowned 
with  his  royal  tiara,  he  wielded  a  sword  to  the  north, 
south,  east,  and  west.2  This  custom  is  still  practised  upon 
the  induction  of  officers  in  Masonic  bodies. 

A  judge's  position  in  Gothic  courts,  as  stated,  was  almost 
uniformly  in  the  west  with  face  turned  due  east.  The 
change  which  has  occurred  in  lodges,  so  far  as  the  Master's 
station  is  concerned,  was  evidently  made  in  order  to  give 
a  more  thorough  idea  of  symbolism  to  initiates,  whose  eyes 
should  gaze  uninterruptedly  upon  that  cardinal  point  as  a 
source  of  light.  Candor  demands  the  confession  that  no 
historical  data,  now  known,  warrants  this  opinion,  but  it  is 
evident  the  alteration  referred  to  originated  at  a  com- 
paratively recent  period,  and  with  it  the  symbol  of  power, 
the  hammer,  Thor's  emblem,  properly  associated  with  the 
west,  the  more  ancient  position,  was  also  carried  to  the 
east,  and  there  remains. 

llbid.,  p.  278. 

2  Die  ungarischen  Konige  schwangen  bei  ihrer  Kronung  ein  schwert  nach 
den  vier  welttheilen.  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthumer,  p.  279,  note  (***). 
The  usage  alluded  to  in  the  text,  concluding  installation  ceremonies,  will 
perhaps  suggest  itself  to  the  Masonic  mind. 


CHAPTER  XXVm. 

A  Medieval  Lodge  :  how  Approached  —  Knocks  — Master's  Hat — 
Emblematic  of  Superiority  and  Acquisition  —  Gessler's  Hat, 
Type  of  Power  —  Worn  by  Teutonic  Judges  —  Craft  Convened 
by  Distinct  Raps  —  Three  Blows  with  a  Gavel  —  The  Judicial 
Mace  —  The  Justice  and  Master  to  be  Seated  —  Significance 
of  the  Official  Staff  —  Three  Steps  to  Master's  Chair — 
Similar  Gradation  in  Upsala  Temple  —  Numerals  in  Lodge 
Ritual  —  Three  as  a  Fundamental  Norm  —  Five  and  Seven  — 
Application  to  Legal  Purposes. 

USING  the  Middle  Ages,  when  a  travelling  Fellow 
approached  a  lodge  of  Masons  in  prescribed  form, 
he  first  exclaimed  :  "  May  God  bless,  direct,  and 
prosper  you,  Master,  Pallirer  (wardens),  and  dear 
Fellows !"  Whereupon  the  Master,  or  in  his  absence  the 
Pallirer,  was  instructed  by  the  ordinance  of  Torgau1  to 
thank. him  in  reply,  in  order  that  the  visiting  brother 
might  see  who  was  custodian  of  the  lodge.  And  having 
obtained  suitable  assistance,  the  wandering  craftsman  re- 
moved his  hat  and  thanked  the  brethren  with  an  established 
formula.2  From  the  preceding  ceremony,  it  is  evident  that 
neither  the  Master  nor  Wardens  of  a  mediaeval  German 
lodge  were  distinguishable  by  distinctive  tokens  while  at 

1  So  soli  In  der  Meister  oder  pallirer  danken,  das  er  sieht  welcher  der  oberst 
ist  in  der  Hiitten.  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  vom  Y.  1462,  Art.  107.  Vide 
Stieglitz,  Ueber  die  Kirche  zu  Eochlitz,  p.  48. 

2  So  soil  er  seinem  Hut  abthun  und  soil  danken,  u.  s.  w.  Ordnung  der 
Steinmetzen,  1462,  Art.  110. 

300 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


301 


mechanical  labor ;  otherwise,  no  regulation  was  essential  or 
obligatory  upon  the  officers  to  make  proper  response  to  a 
visitor  for  the  purpose  of  determining  the  Master. 

Curiously  enough,  the  implication  is  direct  and  clear 
that  the  Masons  of  ancient  times,  when  regularly  convened 
for  work,  and  during  the  formal  reception  of  a  traveller, 
pursued  their  daily  avocation  and  attended  to  usual  Ma- 
sonic demands,  within  closed  portals,  with  covered  heads. 
At  the  present  day  the  custom  has  materially  changed,  and, 
with  one  exception,  the  members  of  a  lodge  at  labor  notice- 
ably divest  themselves  of  their  hats.  This  is  unquestion- 
ably a  transformation  of  recent  origin,  and  with  it  the 
instruction  usually  incident  to  the  distinction  has  been 
adapted  to  the  innovation. 

When  the  initiatory  rites  in  a  mediaeval  lodge  were  per- 
formed, the  Master  was  not  thus  prominently  contrasted 
with  his  brethren.  I  speak  with  especial  emphasis  upon 
this  point,  because  the  esoteric  and  sublime  signification 
involved  in  the  Master's  hat  has  been  recklessly  perverted 
and  destroyed.  It  was  typical,  during  the  Middle  Ages, 
of  superiority,  and  was  so  interpreted  in  the  ceremonies  of 
initiation  by  the  Masons  of  France  at  the  termination  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  all  of  whom  sat  in  open  lodge 
with  covered  heads.1  Among  the  Germans,  this  article 
was  used  as  a  symbol  of  transfer  of  chattels  and  landed 
property.  The  judge  held  a  hat  in  his  hands ;  the  pur- 
chaser must  receive  it  from  him,  and  with  it  the  title  passed. 
Frequently  the  ceremony  perfecting  a  sale  was  performed 


1  At  the  conclusion  of  the  rites  in  French  lodges,  the  Master  handed  the 
candidate  his  hat,  and  said:  For  the  future,  you  shall  be  covered  in  a  Master's 
lodge.  This  very  ancient  usage  is  a  sign  of  liberty  and  superiority :  II  lui 
rend  son  chapeau,  en  disant.  "  Desormais  vous  serez  couvert  en  Loge  de 
Maitre ;  cet  usage  tres-ancien  annonce  la  liberte"  et  la  superiority."  Regulateur 
du  Magon  (Grad.  du  Mait.),  p.  25.  Consult,  further,  Winzer,  Die  Deutschen 
Bruderschaften  des  MiUelalters,  p.  68 ;  Schauberg,  Symbolik  der  Freimaurer,  Bd. 
I.,  p.  62 ;  and  Krause,  Die  Drei  cdtesten  Kunsturfcunden,  Bd.  I.,  Abt.  1,  p.  307. 
23 


302 


by  the  contract  parties  thrusting  their  hands  into  a  hat,  and 
upon  withdrawing  them  the  estate  changed  owners. 

By  the  expression  "  jtutting  hands  in  a  hat,"  was  also 
meant  a  mutual  oath  between  persons  to  a  confederation  or 
conspiracy.  But  the  most  important  signification  of  this 
covering  for  the  head  was  its  use  as  a  symbol  of  power  and 
authority,  and  in  such  sense  it  was  oftentimes  set  up  as  a 
signal  of  compulsory  assemblage.  When  thus  elevated  or 
fixed  upon  a  pedestal,  it  convened  the  people  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. Gessler's  well-known  emblem  of  subjection  and 
superiority,  was  a  hat  erected  on  a  pole  or  column.1  Ancient 
Germans  shared  the  symbolism  of  this  article  with  the 
Romans,  who  also  regarded  it  as  a  type  of  freedom  or  as  a 
release  from  servitude.2  Upon  the  death  of  Xero,  so  much 
joy  was  manifested  by  the  populace,  that,  in  the  excess  of 
their  delight,  they  rushed  about  the  eternal  city  with  hats 
on.3 

Gothic  justices  wore  a  cap  or  suitable  head-dress  when 
presiding  over  court,  as  emblematic  of  authority,4  and 
manifestly  the  people  wore  their  hats  while  attending  the 
tribunal  as  symbols  of  personal  liberty.5  And  with  this 
typical  allusion  general  acquiescence  originally  harmonized ; 
but  the  distinctive  and  exceptional  feature  of  a  Master's 
head-dress  contains  the  secret  symbolism  of  authority  at 
the  present  day,  while  mediaeval  Masons  worked  with 
covered  heads  as  a  sign  of  freedom.    Both  customs,  de- 

1  Auch  des  Gesslers  aufgesteckter  hut  in  der  schweizersage  ist  symbol  der 
obergewalt  zu  gericht  und  feld.    Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthumer,  p.  151. 

2  It  was  thus  symbolized  by  the  Gallic  craftsmen  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
when  the  initiate  was  covered  with  his  hat :  cet  usage  tres-ancien  annonce  la 
liberte.    Regulaleur  du  Macon  (Grad.  du  Mait.),  p.  25. 

3  "Tantumque  gaudium  publice  praebuit,  ut  plebs  pileata  toto  urbe  dis- 
curreret."    Suetonius,  In  Vit.  Nero.,  cap.  57. 

*  Swen  der  richter  vregget  umme  ein  orteil,  tut  her  sinen  hut  abe.  Grimm, 
op.  cit.,  p.  764.    See  Lacroix,  Les  Moeurs  et  Usages,  Figs.  300-306. 

5  In  an  engraving,  dating  from  the  fifteenth  century,  given  in  Lacroix,  op. 
ext.,  p.  379,  all  persons  attendant  upon  court  are  presented  with  heads  covered. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


303 


scended  from  a  remote  Teutonic  antiquity,  have  long  since 
dissipated  their  vital  forces,  while  the  ordinary  interpreta- 
tion possesses  less  significance  than  a  dilapidated  mile-post  '. 

Mediaeval  Masonic  lodges  were  opened  with  impressive 
ceremonies,  and  observed  a  certain  degree  of  careful 
formality.  When  the  craftsmen  were  called  to  labor,  a 
signal  sounded.  It  was  enacted  by  the  Torgau  law  that 
uthe  Master  should  give  three  knocks,  a  Pallirer  two, 
consecutively ;  and  in  case  the  craft  at  large  were  impera- 
tively demanded,  one  blow  must  be  struck,  morning, 
midday,  or  at  eventide."1  This  was  claimed  to  be  in 
accordance  with  the  ancient  usages  of  the  country.2 
Exactly  similar  signals  were  appropriately  given  when 
the  lodge  closed.  From  this  it  is  evident  that,  as  early 
as  the  year  1462,  the  operative  Masons  followed  an  old 
custom  in  opening  and  closing  their  labors  with  distinc- 
tive knocks.  Three  strokes,  by  a  Master,  convened  all 
members  of  that  degree ;  two  strokes,  in  rapid  succession, 
by  the  Pallirer,  called  the  Fellows  together  ;  and  by  a 
single  blow  each  member,  whether  Master,  Craftsman,  or 
Apprentice,  was  assembled  in  lodge. 

If  a  Pallirer  failed  to  sound  the  signal,  or,  for  any  cause,3 
neglected  it,  or  if  Fellows  and  Apprentices  disregarded  the 
stroke,  and  were  dilatory  in  commencing  their  daily 
avocations,  the  Warden  was  forced  to  record  each  delin- 
quency, and  work  it  up  against  the  offender  upon  the 
stone  ; 4  and  any  Warden  allowing  the  assessed  penalty  to 
go  unsatisfied,  was  bound  to  pay  it  himself.  In  the  open- 
ing and  closing  of  Teutonic  tribunals  of  justice,  the  judge 
carried  a  staff  or  mace  as  an  emblem  of  jurisdiction ;  nor 
was  he  allowed  to  divest  himself  of  this  official  badge 

1  Ein  Meister  sol  schlagen  drey  schlege,  ein  Pallirer  zwein  einfort,  einen 
wen  man  riigen  sol  morgen,  mittags,  abend.  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen,  1462, 
Art.  28. 

2  Nach  des  landes  alter  gewohnheit.  Ibid.  3  Ordnung,  eU.,  Art.  54. 
*  Evidently  intended  to  be  the  block  on  which  the  operative  was  at  work. 


304 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


without  such  dispossession  being  a  constructive  conclusion 
of  further  proceedings.1  Order  was  enjoined  by  the  arbi- 
ter with  the  mace  which  he  held  in  his  right  hand,  and 
with  which  he  struck  a  blow  upon  the  pedestal  before 
him.  He  thereupon  elevated  it  above  his  head  until 
silence  had  been  obtained  and  the  court  formally  opened. 
As  often  as  harmony  was  broken,  a  stroke  of  the  staff 
preserved  it.  When  the  court  concluded,  a  blow  was 
given,  and  the  following  order  pronounced :  "  Since  no 
further  business  offers,  this  court  is  now  closed."2 

One  custom  prevailing  in  judicial  procedure  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  has  descended  to  Masonic  lodges  unimpaired 
and  without  variation :  the  judge  was  required  to  remain 
seated  in  his  station  during  regular  business,  and  in  case 
he  arose,  all  argument  ceased,  and  further  proceedings  were 
stayed  until  he  resumed  his  seat.3 

A  standing  rule  prescribes,  when  a  Master  of  a  lodge 
rises,  disputations  and  debates  shall  instantly  cease  and 
silence  be  maintained.  Grimm4  also  says  the  three  blows 
were  of  emblematic  import,  and  were  struck  by  judges 
sitting  in  an  official  capacity.  Amid  joyous  songs  and 
gay  festivities  a  nail  was  driven  into  boundary  posts  by 
Teutonic  judges,  who  struck  three  blows  with  a  hammer; 
— the  echo  of  those  far-off  signals  is  perpetuated  in  the 

1  Des  stabs  konnte  ein  richter  nicht  entrathen,  er  gebot  damit  stille  (durch 
Klopfen)  und  hegte  das  gericht;  so  bald  er  ihm  niederlegte  war  das  gericht 
geschlossen.  Grimm,  Deuts.  Rechts  Alt.,  p.  761.  Krause,  Die  Drei  cdtesten 
Kunsturk unden,  Bd.  I.,  Abt.  1,  p.  304,  publishes  an  old  German  lodge  ritual, 
according  to  which,  the  Master  opened  his  lodge  with  a  long  staff  in  hand. 
After  the  formal  colloquy  had  ensued,  the  lodge  was  declared  opened,  amid 
three  strokes  of  a  hammer.    Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Freimaurer,  p.  58. 

2  Eben  so  schliigt  er  nach  beendigung  des  gerichts  auf  den  tisch  und  spricht: 
die  wiel  niemand  mehr  fiirzubringen  hat,  wird  das  gericht  hiermit  aufge- 
schlagen.    Grimm,  op.  cit.,  p.  832. 

3  Muss  sitzen  sein  aufstehen  hindert  den  fortgang  der  verhandlung.  Ibid., 
p.  763. 

4  Die  richters  sol  to  deme  ersten  male  dre  siege  flan  an  ene  burch.  Ibid., 
p.  209. 


A  NTIQ  UITIES  OF  FREE  MA  S  ONE  Y.  305 


mystic  labors  of  the  modern  craft  l1  The  deacons,  entrusted 
to  satisfy  the  officers  of  a  lodge,  before  opening,  that  none 
are  present  but  those  who  have  regularly  passed  the  mys- 
terious portals,  carry  staves  in  the  performance  of  an 
important  duty.  Mediaeval  judicial  formularies  will  satis- 
factorily indicate  the  source  whence  this  custom  is  derived. 
The  constabulary,  or  court  messengers,  of  that  distant 
epoch  were  symbolically  clothed  with  a  staff  as  a  badge 
of  authority  to  investigate  all  matters  within  their  prov- 
inces.2 For  a  like  purpose  Masonic  deacons  are  invested 
with  an  official  wand,  as  a  distinctive  mark  that  the 
whispered  word  is  entrusted  to  the  ear  of  a  proper  officer.3 
The  Master's  chair  is  approached  by  three  steps  or 
grades,  —  an  arrangement  apparently  descended,  with 
numerous  appointments,  from  Scandinavian  antiquity. 
In  the  Upsala  temple  the  Norse  gods  — Odin,  Thor,  and 
Frey  —  were  presented  sometimes  as  enthroned  on  high 
seats,  one  elevated  above  the  other.'  Thor  was  placed  on 
a  throne  to  the  left  of  the  principal  divinity,  while  Frey 
sat  on  the  right  side.5    These  thrones  upon  which  the 

1  In  the  tribunals  alluded  to  were  three  judges,  each  of  whom  sounded  a 
blow  with  his  hammer,  in  succession,  one  following  the  other.  Einer  noch 
dem  anderen  that  drei  schldge  auf  den  eingefleckten  nagel.  Grimm,  Deutsche 
Rechts  Alterthiimer,  pp.  832,  833.  Three  mystical  blows  with  a  staff  or  baton  ; 
Drei  ruthenschlage.    Ibid.,  p.  209. 

2  Audi  bei  den  handwerksumfragen  wird  von  den  gesellen  ein  stab  gehalten. 
Grimm,  op.  cit.,  p.  767,  note  (*).  The  Masonic  custom  described  in  the  text 
was,  evidently,  in  the  mind  of  the  great  German  archaeologist  when  the  note 
was  penned.  Monastic  constables  carried  staves.  Fosbroke,  British  Monachism, 
p.  262.    Festival  batons:  bacula  festiv.    Ibid.,  p.  120. 

3  Hibernian  justices  were  tendered  a  staff*  on  being  inducted  into  office. 
Also  delivered  to  newly-crowned  kings.  Moore,  History  of  Ireland,  Vol.  I., 
pp.  42-3.  Vide  Winzer,  Die  Deutschen  Bruderschaften  des  Mittelalters,  p.  5. 
Kegulation  of  the  year  1408  required  guildic  Masters  to  bear  white  wands. 
Smith,  English  Guilds,  p.  141.  Rector  chori,  with  white  staff.  Barclay,  Ship 
of  Fooles,  182. 

4  Adam  Brem,  Hist.  Eccles.,  1;  Geijer,  History  of  Sweden,  p.  34;  especially 
Gylfaginning,  Str.  2. 

5  Olaus  Magnus,  Hist.  Septen.  vari.  Condi,  p.  100. 

26*  U 


306 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


deities  were  seated,  according  to  the  prose  Edda,  were 
graduated  by  an  intervening  step.  Odin's  stood  highest, 
on  three  grades ;  Thor's  next,  on  two ;  and  Frey's  seat 
was  the  lowest,  and  numbered  one. 

It  may  be  inferred  that  the  location  of  the  Carlovingian 
and  mediaeval  justiciary  accurately  described  the  formal 
orientation  of  a  Teutonic  temple  ;  therefore,  the  Northern 
divinities  sat  in  the  west,  and  faced  directly  opposite. 
Such  arrangement  places  Frey  in  the  south,  and  grouped 
Thor  to  the  north  of  Odin.  Access  was  had,  conse- 
quently, to  the  sacred  thrones1  by  an  ascending  gradation 
of  steps. 

At  what  period  of  time  the  seat  of  Wisdom  was  trans- 
lated to  the  east,  and  now  filled  by  the  Master  of  a  lodge, 
is  perhaps  beyond  recovery,  but  the  thrones  of  Thor, 
Strength,  and  Frey,  Beauty,  remained  in  their  present 
cardinal  positions.  The  type  of  superior  elevation  was 
perpetuated  in  the  transfer,  and  is  still  maintained  by  the 
three  steps  arising  to  the  oriental  pedestal.  In  the  west, 
the  Warden's  chair  is  approached  by  the  two  steps  of  Thor, 
while  Frey's  seat  in  the  south  is  elevated  one  grade  above 
the  floor. 

Another  conclusion,  confirmatory  of  the  preceding  argu- 
ment, may  be  deduced  from  the  symbolical  gradation 
leading  to  the  Master's  chair.  The  usual  explanation  of 
these  steps  declares  them  to  be  representative  of  the  three 
stages  of  human  life — -youth,  manhood,  and  age. 

It  is  possible  that  the  original  significance  has  been  lost 
in  the  present  application.  The  period  of  youth,  with  the 
color  and  roseate  freshness  of  health,  symbolizes  beauty,  or 
the  type  of  Frey.  Manhood,  with  its  vigor  and  endurance, 
is  synonymous  with  Thor,  the  god  of  strength.  Age,  from 
the  accumulated  experience  of  years,  is  a  type  of  wisdom, 


1  A  manuscript  copy  of  the  Edda,  still  preserved  in  Upsal,  portrays  the 
three  Norse  divinities  appropriately  seated. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


307 


which,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  Odin's  symbolism.1  In 
the  Gothic  tribunals  the  presiding  judge  occupied  the 
most  elevated  seat,  while  his  associates  were  graduated 
by  higher  or  lower  benches,  to  the  right  and  left  of  the 
supreme  justice,2  an  arrangement  evidently  imitated  after 
the  location  of  Scandinavian  deities  in  Northern  temples. 

In  the  ordinary  details  of  lodge  ritual,  numbers  con- 
stitute an  important  element.  Although  not  especially 
symbolized,  they  bear  so  significant  relations  as  to  arrest 
attention.  The  fundamental  numbers  of  Freemasonry  are 
3,  5,  and  7,  and  of  these  by  far  the  most  essential  is  the 
numeral  3.  Northern  mythology  based  the  entire  physical 
world  upon  the  three  roots  of  the  ash  Yggdrasil,  whose 
branches  covered  earth's  extensive  surface  and  reached  to 
the  highest  heavens.3  Also,  a  lodge  of  Masons  is  typically 
supported  by  the  three  principal  columns  of  Wisdom, 
Strength,  and  Beauty,  and,  curiously  enough,  beneath  one 
of  the  roots  of  Yggdrasil  was  the  fountain  of  wisdom,4 
from  which  the  superior  deity  of  the  North,  Odin, 
replenished  his  vast  intelligence.5    Three  norns  or  fates 

1  Odin  was  frequently  represented  as  an  old,  venerable,  long-bearded  man. 
Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  203. 

2  Dem  Richter  zu  beiden  seiten  sassen  die  vertheiler ;  er  etwas  holier,  sie  tiefer. 
Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthumer,  p.  808. 

3  Edda,  Str.  15.  Schauberg,  Symbolik  der  Freimaurerei,  Vol.  I.,  chap,  xxix., 
has  collected,  with  industry  and  learning,  the  almost  universal  application  of 
the  numeral  3  as  a  substantial  norm,  particularly  in  Teutonic  mythology.  In 
the  Grimnismal,  Str.  31,  Yggdrasil  is  thus  described : 

"  Prei  wurzeln  strecken  sich  nach  dreien  seiten 
Unter  der  Esche  Yggdrasil, 

Hel  wohnt  unter  einer,  Hrimthursen  under  der  andrern, 
Aber  unter  der  dritten  Menschen." 

Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  33. 
*  Gylfaginning,  c.  15 ;  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  12. 
5  Gylfag.,  c.  15  ;  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  36.  In  the  initiatory  cere- 
monies of  the  German  Freemasons,  a  mirror  is  used  to  typify  self-examination 
and  knowledge.  Schauberg,  op.  cit.,  p.  104.  This  symbol  is  certainly  trace- 
able to  a  judicial  custom,  in  imitation  of  Baldur,  gazing  in  silent  and  solitary 
contemplation  upon  the  waters  of  a  consecrated  spring :  Mirmir's  fountain,  the 
source  of  wisdom.    Simrock,  ut  supra,  p.  300.    Water  was  used  by  the  French 


308 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


guarded  the  well  of  Urd.1  The  three  lights,  alluding  to 
Frey,  Thor,  and  Odin,  have  been  explained,  together  with 
the  steps  delineated  on  the  Master's  carpet,  and  reference 
has  been  made  at  length  to  the  three  cardinal  points  of 
the  compass  —  East,  West,  and  South  —  and  the  striking 
resemblance  between  Masonic  orientation  and  that  of  a 
mediaeval  court. 

The  old  ordinance  of  Torgau  prescribes  that  two  addi- 
tional Masters  shall  be  associated  with  a  Master  whose 
qualifications  are  disputed,  in  order  to  arbitrate  upon  his 
competency.2 

This  number,  three,  constitutes  the  minimum  of  a 
Masonic  lodge,  and  seems  to  have  been  a  derivative  pro- 
totype of  the  .deities  at  Upsala.  During  the  early  Middle 
Ages  no  court  was  legally  organized  unless  three  judges 
at  least  were  present,  and  these  tribunals,  perpetuating 
ancient  temple  worship,  frequently,  if  not  invariably, 
convened  under  trees  in  imitation  of  the  Scandinavian  ash. 
Seven  trees  were  prescribed  as  the  highest  number.3  Three 
judges  were  absolutely  required  to  open  and  regularly 
hold  a  court  of  justice  ;  the  maximum  was  seven.4  In  some 
cases  five  were  demanded  to  proceed  in  due  form  to  adju- 
dicate upon  the  matters  brought  before  them. 

This  practice  in  mediaeval  tribunals  affords  a  solution  of 
the  Masonic  landmark,  that  three  or  more  members  are 
necessary  to  open  and  close  lodge  work,  which,  being  fairly 

Masons  as  symbolical  of  purgation.    Regulateur  du  Magon,  p.  26  ;  also,  Krause, 
Die  Drei  celtesten  Kunstwkunden,  Bd.  IL,  Ab.  2,  p.  262. 

1  Votuspd,  Str.  20;  GyJ/aginntng,  c.  15;  Thorpe,  op.  cit,  Vol.  I.,  p.  12. 

2  Aber  Kumpt  ein  Meister  von  Neues  auff  das  er  vor  nicht  Meysterey  ge- 
trieben  hat,  der  sol  zwehn  bewerte  Meister  haben,  die  fiir  In  sprechen.    Ord-  » 
nung,  1462,  Art.  4.    No  Masonic  tribunal,  for  the  trial  of  an  alleged  delin- 
quent, should  be  composed  of  less  than  three  Masters.    Fallou,  Mysterien  der 
Freimaurer,  p.  47. 

3  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthiimer,  p.  794;  Maurer,  Geschichte  der  Mar- 
kenverfassung,  p.  328. 

*  Grimm,  Ibid  ,  p.  795;  Unger,  Die  AUdeutsche  Gerichtsverfassung,  pp.  113, 181. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


309 


interpreted,  signifies  any  number  from  three,  five,  or  seven 
craftsmen,  are  essential  to  regular  labor.  It  has  been  pre- 
viously stated  that  three  knocks1  were  of  symbolic  import 
in  a  Gothic  court,  and  still  exists  in  Masonic  bodies. 

This  norm,  also  signifying  everything  good  and  desira- 
ble,2 was  a  practical  element  of  legal  procedure  of  extensive 
use.  The  ancient  Germans  reckoned  three  great  national 
lines  :  Herminones,  Jugaevones,  and  Estsevones.3  Tacitus 
says4  there  were  three  social  grades  :  nobiles,  ingenui,  and 
servi. 

The  lex  Alamania  divided  the  nation  into  optimates, 
medii,  and  servi.  Also  tres  faciunt  collegium,  corporation 
or  guild.5  Three  men  constituted  a  contubernium.  By 
law,  each  Germanic  landed  proprietor  was  compelled  to 
receive  at  least  three  guests.6  Three  bones,  tria  ossa,  were 
typified  in  the  Salic  law.  A  judge's  chair  must  have  three 
legs,  an  evident  reference  to  the  Yggdrasil  roots. 

The  sacred  circle  of  a  mediaeval  court  had  three  princi- 
pal stakes  of  entrance,7  but  others  might  be  added  ad  cap- 
tandum.  A  branch  of  a  tree  having  three  twigs  was  used 
as  a  symbol  by  the  Germans  in  the  transfer  of  property. 

1  In  the  consecration  of  churches,  the  bishop  rapped  three  times  on  the 
door.  Fallou,  op.  cit.,  p.  242.  Three  excuses  allowed  to  members  for  non- 
attendance  on  a  guild,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  viz. :  "for  ye  Kyngges  ser- 
vise,  er  for  stronge  sekenesse  er  twenty  myle  dwellyng."  Smith,  English 
Guilds,  p.  30. 

2  Grimm,  op.  cit,  p.  208.  3  Plin.  Hist.  4  Germania,  cap.  xxv. 

5  Three  make  a  guild.    Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  des  Mittelalters,  p.  14. 

6  Rogge,  Das  Gerichtswesen  der  Germanen,  p.  1 05.  "  In  the  exercise  of  Northern 
hospitality,  the  old  Swedes  surpassed  every  other  people."  Geijer,  Hist,  of 
Sweden,  p.  33.  One  of  the  early  laws  of  Scandinavia  enacted  that  no  traveller 
should  leave  a  lodging-house  without  chopping  as  much  wood  as  he  had 
burned,  in  order  that  fuel  might  be  at  hand  for  an  emergency  in  that  rigorous 
clime. 

7  Grimm,  Rechts  Alterthumer,  p.  208.  Three  staves,  possessed  of  a  terrible 
magical  power,  mentioned  in  Skirnisfaer,  Str.  36.  The  three  drinks  referred 
to  in  the  Eragarcedhur,  Str.  58,  were  of  mystical  import,  and  may  be  the  origin 
of  the  ancient  Masonic  custom,  at  banquets,  to  drink  a  toast  in  three  distinct 
times  or  motions.    Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Freimaurer,  p.  65. 


310 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


A  like  number  of  trees  planted  in  the  soil  had  a  similar 
import.  Three  cords  twisted  into  a  rope  possessed  a  mys- 
tical meaning  in  the  dreaded  Vehmgericht.  Three  apples, 
pears,  turnips,  etc.,  might  be  appropriated  by  the  traveller 
without  fear  of  legal  punishment. 

In  the  old  Northern  cosmogony,  three  doors  in  a  house 
had  a  symbolic  reference  to  Norse  temple  worship.1  A 
like  number  of  tables  was  requisite  in  each  royal  mansion. 
As  already  urged,  three  fires  in  a  dwelling  were  typical  of 
the  principal  divinities  of  Upsala.  In  the  legal  transfer 
of  a  house,  the  symbol  of  possession  was  performed  by  a 
bailiff,  who  cut  three  chips  from  the  door-post  and  passed 
them  to  the  purchaser.2 

Legal  messengers  from  the  mysterious  Vehmgericht, 
experiencing  difficulty  or  danger  in  approaching  the  resi- 
dence of  an  accused,  served  judicial  notice  upon  the  person 
charged  with  crime  at  night,  by  affixing  the  summons  to 
the  door-latch  with  a  royal  coin  enclosed,  and  taking  three 
notches  from  a  vine.  A  lawful  service,  among  the  early 
Scandinavians,  was  made  by  the  bailiff1  cutting  three  incis- 
ions in  the  door  or  posts,  and  placing  the  court  symbol 
above  the  transom.3  A  carter  could  feed  three  sheaves  of 
grain  to  his  oxen  from  the  shocks  of  any  landowner,  but 
beyond  that  number  the  excess  must  be  paid.  Three  oaks, 
as  previously  stated,  was  the  minimum  number  of  trees 
for  the  court  enclosure.  Three  waves  of  the  sea  were  also 
symbolized  by  the  Teutonic  races  as  a  possessory  limit- 
Three  bites,  three  footsteps,  and  three  blows  with  a  wand  or 
staff  were  of  mystical  signification  in  legal  deliberations. 

Judges,  in  opening  court,  must  strike  three  distinct 
blows4 — a  number  of  raps  still  used  in  a  lodge  of  Masons,  and 
has  especial  reference  to  the  craft  as  a  congregated  body. 

1  Drei  thiiren  im  haus.    Grimm,  op.  cit,  p.  209.  2  Ibid. 

8  Grimm,  Deuts.  Rechts  Alterthiimer,  p.  174 ;  Maurer,  Markenverfassung,  p.  350. 
4  Grimm,  Ibid.,  p.  67.    For  judicial  use  of  symbols,  see  Simrock,  Deutsche 
Mythologie,  p.  517,  and  Schulte,  Reichs-  und  Rechtsgeschichte,  pp.  18,  436,  456. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


311 


In  certain  judicial  ceremonies,  three  words  must  be  pro- 
nounced by  a  person  making  oath.  Three  cries  were  made 
in  tithing,  and  likewise  in  the  clamor  of  murder.1  When 
a  suitor  at  law  was  compelled  to  expurgate,  three  questions 
were  successively  and  formally  propounded,  and  an  oath 
was  frequently  thrice  repeated  by  one  person  upon  a  sword 
thrust  into  the  earth.2  In  legal  attestation,  three  witnesses 
were  necessary,  and  three  formal  and  three  informal  courts 
were  recognized  by  the  Teutonic  constitution. 

Heinous  crimes  were  divided  into  three,  viz.,  robbery 
with  violence,  arson,  and  theft.  Upon  conviction  of  an 
accused,  it  was  usual  to  concede  him  the  chance  of  select- 
ing one  from  three  proffered  penalties.  Three  years  and 
three  days  were  of  significance  in  Germanic  tribunals.  ISo 
householder  was  obliged  to  entertain  a  guest  gratuitously 
longer  than  three  days.3 

This  numeral  was  always  separated  thus,  2  +  1,  or  two 
to  one,  never  1  +  2,  one  to  two.  Masonic  strokes  with  a 
mallet  are  almost  invariably  sounded  in  this  disjunctive 
manner.  In  the  Welsh  tribunals,  numerals  were  abun- 
dantly used  in  a  triadic  formula. 

The  number  7  frequently  appears  as  a  fundamental  norm 
among  the  ancient  Teutonic  nations.  Seven  completed  a 
party  or  convivium.  Seven  scabinei4  or  justices  were  abso- 
lutely essential  to  hear  and  decide  certain  pleas  produced 

1  Grimm,  op.  cit.,  p.  209. 

2  "  Do  Sifride  der  Kuene  diu  maere  reht  vernam, 

Sin  swert  stiesz  er  in  die  Erden  und  zuo  dem  steine  kam, 
Darauf  swuor  er  dri  eide." 
Hitmen  Sifriel,  Str.  52.    Vide  Das  Kleinen  Heldenbuch,  Simrock's  ed.,  p.  201, 
et  seq. 

3  Traceable  to  Norse  mythology.  See  Gylfaginning,  c.  42.  For  three  nights 
with  mystic  sense,  see  Skirnisjaer,  Str.  42,  and  Rigsmdl,  Str.  6. 

*  Savigny,  Geschichte  des  Romischen  Rechts,  Bd.  I.,  p.  238,  note  (a) ;  Unger, 
Altdeutsche  Gerichtsverfassung,  p.  181.  For  the  use  of  the  numerals  3  and  7, 
as  applied,  with  symbolic  import,  to  architectural  art,  see  Poole,  Ecclesiastical 
Architecture  in  England,  pp.  185-187. 


312 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


before  them.  In  some  cases  seven  witnesses  were  necessary 
to  substantiate  an  accusation.  Every  freeman  possessor 
of  seven  shoe-lengths  of  real  property,  before  and  behind 
him,  was  entitled  to  be  present  before  court.1  The  frequent 
recurrence  of  seven  oaks  as  an  essential  number  for  a  place 
of  justice  has  been  alluded  to.  Seven  principal  highways 
and  seven  free  hedges  had  official  recognition  during  the 
Middle  Ages.  A  tax  of  seven  pence  was  a  proportionate 
rate  for  the  celestial,  and  three  for  the  terrestrial  king. 

This  numeral  also  appears  to  have  been  a  usual  norm  in 
military  phraseology  ;  for  instance,  seven  spears,  and  as  in 
the  case  of  Alberich's  scourge,  seven  knots  hung  from  the 
handle.2  In  the  above  connection,  seven  knives  were  often- 
times designated  in  a  mystical  signification.  Seven  years 
was  the  legal  limit  for  absolutely  establishing  terminal 
lines.  The  number  was  only  resolvable  into  4  -(-  3,  and 
rarely  added  otherwise.3 

Of  all  the  numerals  to  which  reference  has  been  made  as 
claiming  an  undoubted  integral  combination  in  the  sym- 
bolism of  lodge  ritualism,  the  triadic  is  unqualifiedly 
the  most  significant  and  certainly  most  archaic.  As  we 
have  seen,  this  norm  had  especial  importance  when  applied 
to  the  ordinary  S3^mbols  of  court  proceeding  in  matters 
affecting  the  transfer  of  real  estate.  It  has  descended  to 
the  Freemasons  of  our  day  with  much  of  the  original 
characteristics  with  which  it  was  invested.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  the  numeral  7,  although  this,  as  a  funda- 
mental norm,  is  not  so  prominently  marked,  neither  does 
it  occur  so  frequently.  In  Masonic  work,  the  triad  retains 
the  mystical  signification  of  an  ancient  religious  culture, 
celebrated  by  a  Pagan  priesthood  amid  the  oppressive 
gloom  of  primeval  oaks  or  within  the  walls  of  a  conse- 
crated temple,  illuminated  by  sacrificial  fires,  burning  with 
unextinguishable  flame,  before  the  heath  en  trinity  of  Asgard. 


1  Grimm,  Rechts  Alterthiimer,  p.  213. 

2  Das  Niebelungen  Lied,  Str.  464. 


3  Grimm,  op.  cit,  p.  214. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Mediaeval  and  Masonic  Obligations  —  Virtue  Inherent  in  Mate- 
rial—  Scandinavian  Fetichism  —  Square,  Gauge,  and  Compass: 
why  Used  in  Ancient  Oath  —  Right  Hand  in  Swearing  —  Oath 
by  the  Jewish  Jehovah — Antiquity  of  the  Word  "Hail,"  or 
"  Hale  " —  From  a  Teutonic  Root,  Signifying  Concealment — Its 
Use  in  Oath  of  Middle  Ages  —  Punishment  for  Temple  Break- 
!xg  —  Other  Penalties  —  Cord,  its  Symbolism  —  The  Shoe  — 
Installation  Procession. 

PALLIRER  or  Warden  elect,  according  to  the 
practice  prevailing  among  the  mediaeval  Masons, 
previous  to  his  installation,  obligated  himself  by 
placing  the  hand  upon  a  gauge  and  square,1  which 
were  apparently  conjoined.  These  implements,  symbolized 
at  an  early  age  to  typify  uprightness  and  moral  rectitude,2 
were,  in  such  solemnities,  used  in  inducting  the  officers 
mentioned  into  their  duties. 

The  custom  of  touching  an  object  with  the  hand,  and 
particularly  the  right  hand,  in  formal  swearing,  was  uni- 
versally followed  during  the  Middle  Ages 3 —  a  usage  which 
has  survived  to  modern  times  —  and  sometimes,  by  way  of 
additional  attestation,  the  hand  is  placed  upon  the  breast 
or  heart.4 


1  Er  soli  In  die  Pallirerschafft  befehlen  und  die  eid  strebe  mit  maszstabe  zu 
der  Heyligen.    Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  torn  Yahre  1462,  Art.  18. 

2  Vide  p.  225,  supra. 

3  Der  schworende  muste  indem  er  die  eidesformel  hersagte  einen  gegen- 
stand  benihnend.  Grimm,  D.  R.  A.,  p.  895.  Imponant  manus  suas  in  epis- 
tolas.  Leg.  Rachis  Reg.,  c.  4;  Rogge,  Das  Gerichtswesen  der  Germanen,  p.  133. 
For  symbolical  use  of  hand,  see  Jennings,  The  Rosicrucians,  pp.  118,  166. 

4  Heinecci,  Antiquitates  Germanicae,  Tome  III.,  p.  263. 

97  313 


314 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


In  the  symbolic  appliances  of  lodge  ritual,  the  objects, 
or  at  least  the  implements,  which  consecrate  the  usual 
oaths,  there  is  an  unequivocal  recognition  of  a  hidden 
power  contained  within  them,  which  has  descended  from 
Norse  mythology,  and  savors  of  Fetichism.  Baldur,  the 
good  deity,  par  excellence,  having  dreamed  that  some  evil 
was  about  to  befall  him,  communicated  his  fears  to  the 
other  divinities  ;  whereupon  Frey  exacted  an  oath  from 
all  things,  animate  and  inanimate,  from  stones,  iron,  and 
other  metals,  that  none  of  them  would  injure  the  divine 
dreamer.1  This,  however,  failed  to  meet  the  emergency, 
for  the  mistletoe,  being  overlooked  on  account  of  its  appa- 
rent insignificance,  was  the  cause  of  Baldur 's  death.2  In 
order  to  secure  his  release  from  Hela,  the  gods  dispatched 
messengers  throughout  the  universe  to  implore  all  things, 
great  and  small,  living  or  lifeless,  to  bewail  and  weep  for 
the  martyred  divinity.3  Here,  therefore,  we  find  a  direct 
acknowledgment  of  an  inherent  power  existing  in  matter, 
animate  or  inanimate.  This  idea,  originating  with  the 
Scandinavian  deities,  was  of  especial  importance  for  the 
^Norseman,  and  contributed,  by  the  skilful  manipulation  of 
the  priesthood,  to  moulding  oath-formularies,  and  invested 
objects  used,  in  consequence  of  the  divine  recognition,  with 
peculiar  significance.  Everything  adopted  for  this  purpose 
was  presumed  to  be  endowed  with  a  high  degree  of  holi- 
ness, and  to  such  extreme  was  this  conception  carried,  that 
a  slave  or  bondman  was  debarred  from  the  oath  in  its 
prescribed  form.4 

1  Elder  Edda,  Vegtamskvidha,  Str.  1,  and  Gylfaginmng,  c.  49. 

2  Gylfagmning,  c.  49  ;  Sirarock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  71 ;  Mallet,  Northern 
Antiquities,  p.  447. 

3  Gylfaginning,  c.  49 ;  Simrock,  op.  cit.,  p.  73. 

4  Bestimrate  eide  durften  nur  von  freien,  nicht  von  Knechten  und  nur  von 
rnaenner,  nicht  von  frauen  geschworen  werden.  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alter' 
thumer,  p.  894.  No  sufficient  reason  appears  why  women  were  rejected  from 
taking  legal  and  formal  oaths ;  but  the  absolute  exclusion  of  the  sex  from 
lodges  of  Masons  may,  perhaps,  rest  upon  this  preemptory  usage.  However, 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


315 


A  germinal  truth  may  be  concealed  beneath  this  mediaeval 
usage,  which,  if  developed,  might  materially  assist  in  solv- 
ing the  cause  of  the  landmark  rejecting  this  class  of  candi- 
dates for  Masonic  degrees,  and  ultimately  lead  to  a  solution 
of  their  inability,  in  ancient  times,  to  take  the  obligation 
of  a  freeman. 

It  was  an  almost  invariable  practice  among  the  Norse 
nations  to  take  the  most  sacred  oaths  with  the  face  turned 
towards  the  rising;  sun,1  and  with  the  hand  and  fingers 
upraised.  In  the  Saemund  Edda,  an  oath  was  taken  with 
the  face  to  the  southern  sun.2  As  previously  stated,  these 
obligations  were  assumed  with  the  hand  resting  upon,  or 
touching,  some  material  object.  In  nearly  all  cases  this 
substance  was  adapted  to  the  particular  custom  of  a 
province,  or  was  any  animate  or  inanimate  thing  readily 
procured.  Pagans  swore  with  the  hand  grasping  a  blood- 
smeared  ring ;  Christians  obligated  themselves  by  the 
cross,  relicts  of  saints,  by  the  book  (missal)  and  bell  ;  the 
latter  was  in  consecrated  use  during  ecclesiastic  services.3 
Ancient  Scandinavians  swore  upon  their  swords,  frequently 
by  grass  and  trees,  as  appears  from  the  following  citation : 

Glasgerion  swore  a  full  grete  othe, 
By  oake  and  ashe  and  thorne.4 

Oaths  were  attested  also  by  water,  fountains,  and  streams, 
by  rocks,  cliffs,  and  stones  —  the  latter  sometimes  white;5 
but  the  most  sacred  and  binding  obligation  was  made  upon 

they  were  admitted  to  full  membership  in  social  and  religious  guilds  of  the 
Middle  Ages. 

1  Gein  der  sunnen,  juramentum  versus  orientem.    Grimm,  op.  ext.,  p.  895. 

2  Atlakvida,  Str.  30. 

3  Atlakvida,  Str.  30.  Uller's  ring.  Ibid.  The  formal  use  of  relicts  by 
Christian  Europe,  in  oaths,  was  evidently  derived  from  the  Egyptians,  who 
were  also  accustomed  to  swearing  by  the  dead.  Gyraldus,  Devario  Sepe- 
lendi  Ritu,  p.  379.  Also  known  to  the  Komans.  Sueton.,  Vita  Augusti,  c.  98. 
Hujus  Masgabae  ante  annum  defuncti,  tumulum  cum  animadvertisset  magna 
turba,  etc.    Early  Christians  swore  upon  the  relicts.    Gyraldus,  op.  cit.,  p.  29. 

*  Percy,  Reliques  of  Ancient  Poetry.         *  GudrUnarkvidha  thridhja,  Str.  3. 


316 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


a  blue  stone  altar.1  Ancient  Northmen  swore  upon  Thor's 
hammer.2 

It  was  no  unusual  thing  for  persons  solemnly  to  attest 
an  oath  by  the  beard,  hair,  and  eyes,  or  with  the  hand 
upon  vestments.3  A  judicial  obligation  was  administered 
by  touching  the  judge's  staff  of  office.  And  for  the  same 
reason  that  warriors  swore  by  the  sword,4  also  other  people, 
in  the  less  exciting  spheres  of  domestic  life,  used  ordinary 
house  furniture.  For  example,  travellers  grasped  the 
wagon-wheel,  and  horsemen  their  stirrups  ;  sailors  rested 
the  hand  upon  the  ship's  railing.5  Operative  masons,  or 
stonecutters,  of  the  Middle  Ages,  perpetuated  the  Scandi- 
navian custom  of  swearing  upon  common  utensils,  and 
used  their  tools  in  the  solemn  formality  of  an  obligation  — 
a  usage  still  adhered  to  by  the  modern  craft. 

The  right  hand  was  considered  indispensable,  in  mediae- 
val oaths,  to  seize  or  touch  the  consecrated  object.6  Fre- 
quently, the  hand  was  upraised,  in  order  to  bring  it  in 
contact  with  the  material  object  sworn  by,  and  at  the 
same  time  kneeling,  divested  of  hat  and  weapons,  was  an 
essential  element  in  the  ceremony  of  assuming  an  oath.7 

Ancient  Jews  called  upon  the  holy  name  in  attestation 
of  the  solemnity  of  their  obligation,  with  the  hand  placed 
indifferently  above  or  beneath  the  thigh.8    But  the  most 

1  Heiligen  Steinen,  gewohnlich  blauen,  wurden  den  Eide  abgelegt,  etc.  Sim- 
rock,  Deutsche  Mytholoyie,  p.  475.  In  the  midst  of  the  court  enclosure,  a  stone 
— blue,  usually — was  erected,  upon  which  sacrifices  were  offered.   Ibid.,  p.  485' 

2  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthiimer,  p.  897. 

8  Rogge,  Das  Oerichtswesen  der  Germanen,  p.  176. 

4  Strictum  gladium  fidelitatis  juramento  praestito.  Olaus  Mag.,  Hist.  Septr.  ac 
var.  Condit,  Lib.  VIII.,  c.  10.  Volundarkvidha,  Str.  31.  Rogge,  op.  cit.,  p.  175,  etc. 

5  Ship's  rail,  shield,  horse's  bit,  etc.  Vide  Volundarkvidha,  Str.  31  ;  also, 
Grimm,  op.  cit.,  p.  899.    Heinecci,  Antiquitaies  Germanicae,  Tome  III.,  p.  263. 

6  Niebelungen  Lied,  Sts.  562-3,  803. 

'  Der  schworende  waffen,  helm  oder  hut  vorher  nieder  zu  legen  und  zu 
knien.    Grimm,  Dent.  Rechts  Alierth'dmer,  p.  903. 

8  Joseph,  Antiq.  Judae.,  Lib.  I.,  cap.  xv.  In  this  oath  there  is  the  relict  of 
a  well-defined  priapic  formula,  viz.,  swearing  upon  the  Lingam.  Westropp 
and  Wake,  Ancient  Symbol  Worship,  pp.  30-35. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


317 


impressive  oath  taken  by  the  Israelites,  was  that  in  and  by 
the  sacred  name  Jehovah.1 

In  Masonic  ritualism,  the  word  "  hail "  is  invariably 
used.  Hail,  conceal,  never  reveal,  form  a  triad.  The 
original  signification  of  the  first-named  word  has  long 
since  passed  away.  With  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  the 
Master's  mallet  or  gavel,  no  portion  of  regular  lodge  ap- 
purtenances is  so  clearly  and  satisfactorily  traceable  to  a 
Saxon  or  Teutonic  source.  "  Hail  "  occurs  in  an  alliterative 
form  in  medieval  oaths,  and  meant  concealment.  In  this 
sense  it  is  now  to  be  understood. 

The  formula  of  judicial  obligations  during  the  Middle 
Ages  was  as  follows:  "will  beivaren,  helen  und  halten"  or 
an  older  form :  "Ik  will  helen  und  hoden."  About  the 
ninth  century,  a  phraseology  similar  to  the  one  preceding 

1  It  was  necessary  to  swear  a  Jew  before  court  by  this  name.  Praeceptum 
est  ut  cuicunque  praestandum  fuerit  in  Foro  juramentum,  is  juret  per  nonien 
Dei.  Selden,  De  Synedriis  Veterum  Ebraeorum,  p.  829.  Detached  parts  of  the 
word  might  be  interchanged  between  persons  and  have  the  binding  significa- 
tion of  an  oath.  Maimonides,  More  Nevochim,  Part  I.,  cap.  59.  In  a  remote 
epoch,  the  sacred  word  evidently  constituted  an  important  element  in  Ma- 
sonic obligations.  Its  use  now,  however,  is  limited  to  lodges  in  the  form  of 
an  initial.  Initiates  into  Norse  guilds  took  the  obligation  under  the  light  of 
a  taper.  Qmnes  qui  entrant  gildam  jurent  super  candelam  prout  lex  dicta- 
verit.  Stat.  Conviv.  St.  Eric,  $  44.  No  doubt,  the  ancient  Scandinavians  at- 
tested very  solemn  oaths  under  the  invocation  of  light,  and  subsequently  trans- 
mitted the  practice  to  the  guild  of  Freemasons,  —  fire  being  cultivated  as  a 
symbol  of  deity.  Ignem,  quia  omni  sacrificia  praefertur.  Olaus  Magnus,  Hist. 
Septr.  ac  var.  Cond.,  Lib.  III.,  cap.  7.  Vide  Schauberg,  Symbolik  der  Frei- 
maurerei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  277.  Frcm  the  numerous  references  to  payment  of  penal- 
ties incurred,  by  wax,  both  among  the  mediaeval  Masons  and  secular  guilds,  it 
is  evident  burning  tapers  were  used  in  initiatory  ceremonies  and  in  the  obli- 
gations. Wild  a,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  des  Mittelalters,  p.  118.  The  guilds  of  the 
Middle  Ages  followed  closely  the  customs  and  perpetuated  unchanged  many 
rites  of  their  Pagan  ancestors.  In  a  return  of  St.  John  the  Baptist's  Guild, 
it  is  ordered  that,  "ye  Den  shal  gedren  ye  forseyde  half  penys  and  by  wyhtal 
bread  and  gyve  hit  for  ye  soule" — to  the  poor.  Smith,  English  Guilds,  pp. 
110-112.  The  wyhtal  or  wastel  is  derived  from  the  Teutonic  veitsla,  feast, 
and  wastel  bread  being  that  which  was  uniformly  given  away,  in  ancient 
times,  to  the  guests. 
27* 


318 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


was  in  use:  "  ich  schwere  das  ich  will  verivahren,  hiiten  und 
helen."  A  judge  swore  :  "  das  heilige  geheimnisse  zu  hiiten 
und  zu  helen."  A  very  antique  Frisian  oath  contained  the 
word  hellen.1  The  lines  cited  signify  :  "  I  swear  the  secrets 
to  conceal  (helen)  hold  and  not  reveal." 

In  the  ancient  Anglo-Saxon  poem  of  Beowulf,2  "  helen  " 
is  used  in  the  sense  of  concealing: 

Under  heofenes  h6dor 
Beholcn  weorded. 

King  Alfred's  translation  of  Paul  Orosius'  history3  con- 
tains this  word  "  helan,"  and  is  always  adopted  as  a  vigor- 
ous expression  for  secrecy.  In  its  present  application, 
"  hail  "  or  "  helan"  is  totally  divested  of  signification ; 
hut  taken  collectively  with  the  entire  trilogy,  the  meaning 
clearly  asserts  itself  to  he  an  intensive  repetition  of  "  con- 
ceal and  not  reveal." 

Penalties  inflicted  upon  convicts  of  certain  grades  during 
the  Middle  Ages,  were  terrible  and  inhuman. 

The  most  cruel  punishment  awaited  him  who  broke  into 

1  Schwur  das  heilige  geheimniss  zu  helen,  hiiten  u.  verwahren,  vor  mann, 
vor  weib,  vor  dorf,  vor  trael,  vor  stok,  vor  stein,  vor  grasz,  vor  klein,  auch  vor 
queck.  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterth'dmer,  pp.  52,  53.  Whoever  will  col- 
late the  foregoing  triplets  with  the  oath  administered  in  the  Entered  Appren- 
tice's Degree,  cannot  fail  to  avow  that  both  have  emanated  from  a  high  an- 
tiquity, if  not  from  an  identical  source.  In  some  cases,  the  ancient  Teutonic 
obligation  was  "staved,"  that  is,  originally  lettered  upon  a  staff  in  poetic 
form,  and  numbers  of  these  constituted  rhyme  staves.  On  these,  for  greater 
solemnity,  the  obligor  was  sworn.  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  517. 
Much  discussion  has  been  had  touching  the  age  of  the  oath  directly  involved 
in  the  text.  Vide  Krause,  Die  Drei  celtesten  Kunsturkunden  der  Freimaurer, 
Bd.  I.,  Ab.  1,  p.  348,  etc.,  who  denies  its  venerable  character.  The  phrase- 
ology, and  especially  hail  or  hale,  are  too  archaic  and  far  too  deeply  rooted  in 
the  past  to  admit  of  a  rational  controversy. 

2  "  Under  heaven's  serenity, 

Is  concealed  —  "  Str.  831,  832. 

3  Thorpe's  Glossary,  sub  voce,  helan.  This  word  is  cognate  with  verhehlen, 
to  conceal.  A  simple  form  of  oath,  prior  to  initiation,  in  Lansdowne  MSS., 
No.  1942,  St.  31.    Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Charges,  p.  57. 


A NTIQ  UITIES  OF  FR  EEMA  SOKE  Y.  319 

and  robbed  a  Pagan  temple.  According  to  a  law  of  the 
Frisians,  such  desecration  was  redressed  by  dragging  the 
criminal  to  the  sea-shore  and  burying  the  body  at  a  point 
in  the  sands  where  the  tide  daily  ebbed  and  flowed.1 

A  creditor  was  privileged  to  subject  his  delinquent 
debtor  to  the  awful  penalty  of  having  the  flesh  torn  from 
his  breast  and  fed  to  birds  of  prey.  Convicts  were  fre- 
quently adjudged  by  the  ancient  Norse  code  to  have  their 
hearts  torn  out.2 

The  oldest  death  penalties  of  the  Scandinavians  pre- 
scribed that  the  body  should  be  exposed  to  fowls  of  the 
air  to  feed  upon.3  Sometimes  it  was  decreed  that  the 
victim  be  disembowelled,  his  body  burnt  to  ashes  and 
scattered  as  dust  to  the  winds.4  Judges  of  the  secret 
Vehmgericht  passed  sentences  of  death  as  follows :  "  Your 
body  and  flesh  to  the  beasts  of  the  field  and  to  the  birds 
of  the  air,  to  the  fishes  in  the  stream."5  The  judicial 
executioner,  in  carrying  into  effect  this  decree,  severed  the 
body  in  twain,  so  that,  to  use  the  literal  text,  "  the  air 
might  strike  together  between  the  two  parts."  The 
tongue  was  oftentimes  torn  out  as  a  punishment.6   A  cord7 

1  Qui  fanum  effregerit  et  ibi  aliquid  de  sacris  tulerit,  ducitur  ad  mare  et  in 
sabulo  quod  accessus  maris  operire  solet.  Lex  Frision.  Add.  Sap..  Tit.  12.  Vide 
"Wirth,  Geschichte  der  Deutschen,  Bd.  I.,  p.  193. 

2  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthumer,  p.  690.  3  Ibid.,  p.  693. 
4  Sein  fleisch  und  blut  zu  iischen  und  pulver  brennen.    Ibid.,  p.  700. 

6  Dein  leib  und  fleisch  den  thieren  in  den  waldern,  den  vogelen  in  den  liiften. 
Ibid.,  p.  40,  etc. ;  Scherr,  Deutsche  Cultur,  p.  189;  Lacroix,  Les  Moeurs  et  Usages 
au  Moyen  Age,  p.  421. 

6  Recisa  prius  lingua.,  quam  in  manu  tenens  barbarus.  Anne.  Flor.,  Rer. 
Roman.,  Lib.  IV.,  cap.  xii.  A  law  of  the  early  Roman  Empire,  known  as 
ex  Jure  Orientis  Cozsareo,  ©nacted  that  any  person,  suitor  at  law  or  witness, 
having  sworn  upon  the  evangelists,  and  proving  to  be  a  perjurer,  should  have 
the  tongue  cut  from  its  roots :  Testi  seu  Litigatori,  qui  in  Foro,  tactis  Sacro- 
Bantis  Dei  Evangeliis  juraverit  et  dein  perjurus  esse  probatus  fuerit,  lingua 
praeciditor.  Selden,  De  Synedriis  Veterum  Ebraeorum,  p.  843.  Full  text  in 
Ecloga  Leonis  et  Constantini,  Tit.  28,  g  2. 

7  In  the  Vehmgericht  a  cord  was  used  as  an  emblem  of  chastisement.  La- 
croix, Les  Moeurs  et  Usages,  p.  420. 


320 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


about  the  neck  was  used  symbolically,  in  criminal  courts, 
to  denote  that  the  accused  was  worthy  of  the  extreme 
penalty  of  law  by  hanging  or  decapitation.  When  used 
upon  the  person  of  a  freeman,  it  signified  a  slight  degree 
of  subjection  or  servitude.1 

In  the  more  ancient  Northern  legal  code,  a  shoe  was  the 
symbol  of  adoption  and  legitimation.  It  was  sent  by 
powerful  rulers  to  inferior  princes  as  a  sign  of  subjection.2 
Under  some  circumstances  this  article  was  carried  on  the 
shoulder  of  a  person,  whose  foot  was  bare,  as  typical  of 
humiliation.  Formal  divestiture  of  the  shoe,  amoiF  Teu- 
tonic  nations  of  the  Middle  Ages,  was  a  symbolical  surren- 
der of  title  and  claim  to  property.3 

In  this  respect  the  Jewish,  or  rather  Israelitish,  and 
Germanic  emblem  involved  in  the  use  of  a  shoe  perfectly 
agrees.  For  instance,  in  the  fourth  Book  of  Ruth,  seventh 
verse,  it  is  said  the  owner  of  certain  land  "  plucked  off  his 
shoe  and  gave  it  to  Boas,"  which  was  a  legal  attestation 
in  Israel  of  a  valid  transfer  of  property.  In  both  nation- 
alities the  rite  of  discalceation,  in  its  widest  signification, 
was  symbolized  to  mean  a  total  relinquishing  of  per- 
sonal claim,  and  complete  humiliation  and  subjection.* 
Northern  kings,  immediately  upon  acceding  to  the  throne, 


1  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthumer,  pp.  184,  714.  Thus  symbolized, 
perhaps,  from  the  string  holding  in  check  the  people  surrounding  the  sacred 
enclosure  of  courts.  Ancient  Teutons  wore  bands,  as  token  of  humiliation, 
until  an  enemy's  death  released  them.  Tacitus,  Germania,  cap.  31.  Con- 
nected with  the  Norse  vebbnd.    Vide  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  492. 

2  Murecardo  regi  Hiberniae  misit  calciamenta  sua  ut  inde  intelligent  se 
subjectum  magno  regi  esse.  Olaus  Magnus.  Also,  Du  Cange,  sub  v.,  calcea- 
menta.  Nudatum  pedes  e  discalceatis  suppliciter.  Sax.  Grammati,  Lib.  IX., 
p.  175.    Vide  Du  Cange,  Glosso.  Med.  et  Infim.  Lat.  voce  Calcearnenta. 

3  Grimm,  op.  cit.,  p.  156. 

*  Symbolical  in  the  Eddas.  Vide  Harbardhsliodh,  Str.  34;  Gylfag.,  Str.  51. 
Loki's  shoes  divest  the  Niflung  of  their  blood-stained  treasure.  Skalda.,  cc. 
35,  39,  42.  Sign  of  humility,  and,  in  marriage,  perfected  possession  of  the 
bride.    Simrock,  ut  supra,  pp.  124,  571. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


321 


made  a  "  gait,"  or  procession  about  their  realms.1  Accord- 
ing to  the  Scandinavian  laws,  when  real  property  was  sold, 
granted,  or  conveyed,  the  transfer  of  possession  was  incom- 
plete until  a  circuit  was  made  around  the  estate  by  the 
buyer  and  vendor,  in  which  tour  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  nearest  hamlet  united.2  Frequently  this  prescriptive 
assumption  of  legal  ownership  of  land  was  performed  by  a 
procession  marching  in  regular  order  around  the  boundary 
of  purchased  limits  or  otherwise  acquired  property. 

This  usage  was  imitated  from  the  royal  gait,  or  Erik's 
gait,  referred  to.  With  his  usual  accuracy,  Grimm3  traces 
this  word  to  rikisgata,  synonymous  with  royal  roads,  and 
thus  called  by  reasor  of  the  monarch  confining  his  tour  to 
public  highways. 

During  the  installation  ceremonies  of  the  Master  of  a 
Masonic  lodge,  a  procession  of  all  the  craftsmen  march 
around  the  room  before  the  Master,  to  whom  an  appro- 
priate salute  is  tendered.  This  circuit  is  designed  to 
signify  that  the  new  incumbent  reduces  the  lodge  to  his 
possession  in  this  symbolic  manner. 

Under  the  Gothic  code,  whenever  a  murder  or  assassina- 
tion was  committed,  the  dead  body  was  usually  brought 
before  open  court,  where  a  prescribed  formula  was  carefully 
observed  in  the  accusation  and  defence.  The  legal  com- 
plaint was  generally  set  forth  by  the  deceased's  blood  kin. 
When  the  tribunal  had  convened,  the  plaintiffs  or  prose- 
cutors of  the  criminal  charged  with  the  crime  strode  into 
the  court  enclosure  and  made  three  cries  of  lamentation, 


1  Geijer,  History  of  Sweden,  Vol.  I.,  p.  87.  Also,  custom  of  the  Teutonic  races. 
Chlotharius,  after  the  death  of  Theodovaldi,  marched  in  procession  around 
his  newly-acquired  kingdom:  cum  regnum  Franciae  suscepisset  circumiret, 
Gregorius  Turonesis,  Lib.  IV.,  c.  14. 

2  Geijer,  op.  cit.,  p.  87. 

3  Deutsche  Rechts  Alter thumer,  p.  238.  A  procession  was  formed,  and  joined 
by  the  people,  when  a  church  was  consecrated,  and  marched  around  the 
building  three  times.    Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Freimaurer,  p.  243. 

V 


322 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


each  of  which  was  accompanied  with  drawing  forth  a 
sword  and  raising  it  above  the  head.1 

In  Friesland  the  clameur  was  wraek,  wraek,  icraek,  ven- 
geance, vengeance,  vengeance.  Sometimes  these  solemn 
and  thrice-repeated  agonizing  cries  were  given  at  the 
grave  of  the  buried  dead,  surrounded  by  sorrowing  kins- 
men, amid  the  impressive  flashing  of  uplifted  swords.2 

1  Traten  streitgeriistet  auf,  dreiraaliges  wehgeschrei  erhebend  zogen  sie  drei- 
mal  die  scliwerter  aus.  Grimm,  D.  R.  A.,  p.  878.  It  was  evidently  in  the 
pursuance  of  this  legal  right  that  Kriemhild  was  induced  to  avenge  the  death 
of  Siegfried,  slain  by  treachery.  Hagan's  approach  to  the  bier  upon  which 
the  valiant  warrior  lay,  in  the  majestic  repose  of  an  eternal  slumber,  accord- 
ing to  the  legend,  reopened  the  wounds,  and  thus  detected  the  traitor.  Das 
Niebelunc/enlLied,  Str.  1077.    Vide  Wilmar,  IAteratur  Gcschichte,  p.  C9. 

2  Sondern  ueber  dem  Grab  des  todten  geschehen.  Grimm,  ut  supra,  pp. 
878,  879. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

Masons'  Marks  of  the  Early  and  Middle  Ages  —  Their  Practical 
Use  —  Great  Diversity  —  Their  Style,  Oriental  —  Not  always 
Symbolical  —  The  Cross  Sign  —  Mallet,  Shoe,  and  Trowel  — 
Marks  Used  to  Distinguish  Property — Are  of  a  Geometric  Out- 
line—  Squares,  Circles,  Compasses,  and  Triangles  —  Early 
Application  by  Byzantine  Builders  —  Memorial  Square  — Col- 
umns OF  JOACHIN  AND  BOAZ  —  THEIR  EVIDENT  SYMBOLISM  —  SAINT 

Marc's  Cathedral  and  Marks — Builders'  Signs  in  Palestine 
Identical  with  European  —  Marks  a  Portion  of  Mediaeval 
Loege  Ritual  —  When  Conferred — Not  to  be  Changed — Must 
be  Enrolled. 

HE  mediaeval  operative  Masons  have  left  behind 
them  lasting  monuments  of  their  skill  and  per- 
severance. The  vast  structures  which  attest  their 
skill  and  architectural  knowledge,  with  rare  excep- 
tions, as  early  as  the  tenth  century,  also  contain  the  defini- 
tive mementoes  of  a  systematic  labor. 

Masons'  marks  are  visible  in  an  infinite  variety  on  the 
walls  of  nearly  all  the  cathedrals  of  Europe,  and  are  sug- 
gestive of  a  connection  which  existed,  immediately  preced- 
ing and  during  the  Middle  Ages,  between  the  Eastern  and 
Western  builders.  A  contribution  to  the  Archceologia?  in 
commenting  upon  Didron,  Sec.  du  Comite  Historique  des  Arts 
et  Monuments,  urges  that  these  marks  frequently  betray  a 
symbolic  character.  This  view  is  mainly,  perhaps,  a  correct 
one,  although  the  geometric  outlines  used  for  this  signifi- 
cation should  not  be  accepted  without  qualification. 


1  Vol.  XXX.,  p.  116. 


323 


324 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


The  primary  object  of  a  Masonic  token  was  to  afford  a 
reliable  means  of  distinguishing  the  work  of  each  artisan, 
in  order  that  he  might  receive  just  and  suitable  compen- 
sation. 

The  earliest  marks  indicate  a  near  connection  with  the 
Orient  at  a  period  when  the  symbolizing  tendencies  of 
Byzantine  architects  were  carried  from  the  Eastern  to  the 
Western  empire,  and  propagated  there  by  those  workmen 
called  to  assist  in  erecting  and  rebuilding  Christian 
churches  of  Italy,  almost  continuously  from  the  age  of 
Theoderich  the  Goth,1  in  the  fifth  century,  to  the  close  of 
the  eleventh. 

I  have  already  noted  the  universal  application  of  sym- 
bolism by  the  early  Grecian  churches,  where  Christ  was 
represented  in  plastic  art  as  a  lamb,  signifying  the  Good 
Shepherd  ;  also  the  typical  use  »of  the  dove  holding  an 
olive  branch,  a  symbol  of  peace.  But  the  most  frequent 
emblem  was  a  fish,  the  ix^>2  This  figure  was  hewn 
upon  the  sacred  edifices  of  Greece,  not  so  much,  perhaps, 
as  a  builder's  token  as  a  type  of  our  Saviour.  During  the 
Middle  Ages  a  fish-shaped3  character  was  frequently  used 
by  operative  Masons  as  a  proprietary  sign. 

Little  doubt  seems  to  exist  that  the  symbolical  appli- 
ances to  ecclesiastical  architecture  in  Europe,  subsequent  to 
the  introduction  of  Byzantine  corporations,  were  mainly 
derived  from  those  artificers.  It  is  equally  true,  I  appre- 
hend, that  the  Oriental  builders  distinguished  individual 
workmanship,  at  a  remote  period,  by  a  system  of  distinc- 
tive and  personal  tokens. 

The  earliest  authentic  attestation  of  this  assumption  is 
to  be  found  upon  the  cathedral  walls  of  Saint  Marc's,  in 

1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  423. 

2  Ottfried  Mueller,  Archceologie  der  Kunsl,  p.  233 ;  Didron,  Christian  Icono- 
graphy, pp.  244,  el  seq. 

3  Sometimes  denominated  vesica  piscinum.  See  Hawkins,  Origin  and  Hist,  of 
Gothic  Architect,  p.  244,  for  a  singular  notion  of  this  figure  in  its  relation  to  art. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


325 


Venice,  constructed  towards  the  end  of  the  tenth  century. 
From  the  position  occupied  by  the  geometric  marks  under 
consideration,  it  may  be  correctly  inferred  they  were 
incised  immediately  after  the  building  was  begun,  which 
would  evidently  antedate  them  to  a  more  ancient  epoch. 
The  entire  character  of  this  structure  is  Byzantine,  and 
was  built  by  corporations  of  Greek  architects,  brought 
from  Greece  by  the  Venetian  government  for  that  purpose. 
Builders'  marks  alluded  to  are  carved  upon  columns  lead- 
ing to  the  main  entrance,  and,  in  essential  particulars,  are 
identical  with  those  abundantly  used  at  a  later  period  by 
mediaeval  Masonic  guilds. 

It  has  been  asserted1  that  the  Master  or  supervising 
architect  had  one  class  of  monogram  characters,  and  the 
craft  at  large  another,  but  I  apprehend  this  to  be  errone- 
ous, because  the  tablets  still  extant  preserving  such  signs 
fail  to  disclose  the  distinction  claimed.  Occasionally, 
many  marks  have  a  significance  independent  of  their  prac- 
tical application.  For  instance,  the  cross  was,  as  is  well 
known,  adopted,  at  an  early  age,  as  a  Christian  emblem, 
and  was  perpetuated  as  a  Masonic  symbol-mark2  down  to 
the  extinction  of  Freemasonry  as  an  operative  body. 

Numerous  geometric  signs  manifestly  refer  to  their 
mystical  connection  with  lodge  ritual.  Of  this  class  the 
mallet,3  shoe,  trowel,  interlaced  compasses, 
and  five-pointed  star,  frequently  appear  in 
an  esoteric  sense.  The  mallet  had  a  more 
profound  symbolism  attached  to  its  use  than  the  mere 
definitive  designation  of  artistic  work.4 

In  the  preceding  pages  the  symbol  of  the  Master's  gavel, 
as  typical  of  power  and  strength,  has  been  elaborated  at 

1  Archceologia,  Vol.  XXX.,  p.  116.  2  Ibid.,  p.  118. 

3  This  sign  was  anciently  used  in  guildic  cup  consecrations,  as  an  invocation, 
of  Thor,  and  consequently  its  magical  properties  were  shared  by  Masonic 
guilds.  Vide  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  des  Mittelalters,  p.  9;  Archceologia,. 
Vol.  XXX.,  p.  116.  *  Ibid.,  p.  118. 

28 


326 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


length  to  be  the  legitimate  successor  of  Miolner,  or  ham- 
mer of  Thor,  the  Scandinavian  thunder  god.  This 
hammer  sign  was  of  extensive  and  widespread  applica- 
tion as  a  potent  charm  to  avert  the  mighty  thunderbolt 
of  the  Norse  deity.  As  previously  noted,  it  was  placed 
on  church  bells  for  similar  purpose,  and  this  was,  perhaps, 
the  design  in  cutting  the  mallet  token  on  cathedral  walls, 
— both  unequivocal  relics  of  Teutonic  superstition.  One  of 
these  incisions  —  a  cross  cramponee  (Fig.  1),  or  two  inter- 


secting straight  lines  with  angled  arms  —  is  hewn  on  the 
minster  at  Basel.  A  similar  sign  is  visible  on  the  Oschatz 
city  chapel,  constructed  in  the  sixteenth  century.1  The 
church  of  St.  Radigonde,  in  France,  displays  a  like  char- 
acter, and  is  an  evident  allusion  to  Thor's  sacrificial  ham- 
mer. It  is  noteworthy  that  the  same  formal  indentation 
presents  itself  in  the  Catacombs,  on  a  fossor's  dress,2  — 
and  also  upon  a  Roman  altar  discovered  at  Resingham,  in 
England,  the  cross  cramponee  has  been  found.3 

On  one  of  the  British  monumental  brasses,  of  so  early  a 

1  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  615.  Das  Christen thum  traf  hier  mit 
dem  Heidenthum  in  demselben  Zeichen  zusammen  :  es  ist  das  Zeichen  dea 
Kreuzes,  das  auch  den  Hammer  Thor's  und  die  Rune  Tyr,  bedeutete.  Sim- 
rock,  Deutsche  Mytholoyie,  p.  269 ;  also,  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  des  Mittel- 
alters,  p.  9.  In  an  ancient  conjuration  formula,  the  potency  of  this  token  is 
recognized:  f  Jesus  Nazarenus  f  rex  Judaeorum  f  non  percuties  eos  qui  sig- 
nati  sunt  hoc  signo  Thau.  Thor's  hammer  mark  in  Tower  of  London.  Jen- 
nings, The  Rosicrucians,  p.  243. 

2  Gorling,  Geschichte  der  Mahlerei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  66. 
8  Archceoloyia,  Vol.  XXX.,  p.  119. 


Fig.  1.  Fig.  2. 


Fig.  3. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


327 


date  as  the  year  1235,  a  mallet  is  engraven,  surmounting  a 
double  triangle,  on  one  side  of  which  stands  a  star,  and 
on  the  other  a  half  moon,  the  whole  being  surrounded  by 
a  perfect  circle  (Fig.  2).  According  to  the  conjecture  of  a 
contributor  to  English  archaeology,1  it  was  the  badge  of  a 
Masonic  guild.  The  writer  referred  to2  gives  an  engraving 
of  a  circular  seal,  of  remote  date,  used  by  the  fraternity  of 
Masons,  in  which  the  gavel  is  flanked  by  a  star  and  half 
moon  (Fig  3). 

Marks  of  the  craft  usually  consisted  of  a  geometric 
figure  composed  of  straight  lines,  angles,  and  curvatures, 
and,  notwithstanding  this  apparent  paucity  of  elements, 
the  combinations  are  of  an  infinite  variety.  The  most 
ancient  are  very  simple,  and  arranged  on  pure  geometrical 
tracery.  Stieglitz3  suggests  that  the  secret  details  of 
Masonic  art  were  concealed  by  these  slight  outlines ;  but 
this  assumption  gives  an  exalted  importance  to  what  was 
clearly  a  means  of  assisting  the  Master  of  lodges  to  distin- 
guish each  craftsman's  work. 

It  can  scarcely  be  accredited  that  the  vast  art  knowl- 
edge made  necessary  in  the  progress  of  a  highly  skilled 
and  practical  labor,  was  written  out,  so  to  speak,  upon 
granite  walls,  or  incised  upon  chiselled  pilasters,  in  these 
characters.  No  doubt,  the  essential  elements  of  archi- 
tecture were  inculcated  by  means  of  mathematical  tracery, 
upon  the  same  principle  that  geometry  itself  is  alone 
demonstrable  by  figured  outlines. 

I  am  inclined  to  the  belief  that  these  marks  .were  for 
the  practical  purpose  of  distinction,  although  in  numerous 
cases  a  hidden  meaning,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  mallet, 
shoe,  and  fish,  was  involved  beyond  the  mere  definitive 
nature  of  the  sign.  It  is  barely  possible  that  a  Mason's 
mark  was  invariably  symbolized,  and  conveyed  a  secret 
signification  to  the  craft  utterly  unintelligible  to  the 
uninitiated. 


Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 


2  Ibid. 


Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  615. 


328 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


These  signs  were  by  no  means  of  the  monogrammatic 
•style  similar  to  the  initials  adopted  by  artists  or  portrait 
painters,  nor  were  they,  as  Mr.  Paly1  erroneously  asserts, 
a  resemblance  to  spurious  heraldic  badges  called  mer- 
chants' marks,  although  occasionally  the  master  architect 
seems  to  have  engraved  his  mark  as  builder  on  an  escutch- 
eon. One  of  this  kind  is  in  a  tolerable  state  of  preserva- 
tion in  Melrose  abbey.  Above  the  door  leading  to  a 
stairway  a  shield  is  carved  in  relief,  displaying  two  pairs 


Fig.  4.  Fig.  5. 

of  compasses  (Fig.  4),  with  an  almost  obliterated  inscrip- 
tion, in  quaint  Gothic  letters,  which  may  be  read  thus: 

"  So  gays  ye  compass  evene  about, 
So  truth  and  laute  do  but  doubte, 
Beholde  to  ye  hende  quath, 

John  Muruo." 

The  only  remaining  instance  of  the  use  of  a  heraldic 
badge  by  a  builder,  of  which  I  am  aware,  is  at  Cologne. 
This  work  is  in  the  nature  of  double  interlaced  squares  (Fig. 
5),  hewn  on  an  embossed  escutcheon,  springing  from  one  of 
the  columns  which  support  the  superstructure  of  the  grand 
old  cathedral.  However,  the  use  of  this  architectural  her- 
aldry is  rare,  and  does  not  properly  belong  to  legitimate 
Masonic  works.    Oftentimes  sculptured  human  figures,  in 

1  Manual  of  Gothic  Architecture,  pp.  208,  209.  Paly  informs  us,  loc.  cit.,  that 
"  he  is  assured,  by  a  member  of  the  present  body  which  perpetuates  the  name, 
that  they  (the  marks)  are  identical  with  those  still  in  use,  though  he  may  be 
allowed  to  doubt  whether  his  informant  really  ever  saw  an  ancient  one,  for,  in 
England  they  are  extremely  rare."  In  the  ensuing  dissertation,  frequent  allusion 
will  be  made  to  churches  and  cathedrals  of  Great  Britain  and  Europe,  from 
which  the  author  has  transcribed  many  of  the  marks  referred  to  in  the  text. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


329 


their  attitudes,  refer  directly  to  esoteric  rites  still  current 
among  Freemasons. 

In  a  representation  of  the  Last  Supper,  in  a  church  of 
Lower  Mecklinberg,  Germany,  the  apostles  are  presented 
in  postures  familiar  to  the  craft.1  Two  full-sized  images 
over  the  main  entrance  to  the  York  minster  are  grouped 
in  Masonic  attitudes,  one  of  which  holds  a  rough  ashlar, 
the  other  a  perfect  ashlar.  Above  these  figures  two  others 
are  visible,  in  a  kneeling  posture,  with  the  right  hands 
resting  on  some  material  object,  and  the  left  arm,  angled 
at  the  elbow,  upraised  toward  heaven.  In  each  of  the 
three  canopied  niches,  wrought  with  elegance  and  skill,  in 
the  aspiring  turrets  surmounting  the  side  entrance  to  the 
Duomo  of  Florence,  a  martyred  saint  appears  in  a  position 
of  unmistakable  significance  to  the  initiate  eye.2 

As  previously  stated,  Masons'  marks  consisted  of  a 
geometric  outline.    The  most  usual  are  angles  (Fig  6)  and 

Fig  6.  Fig.  7.  Fig.  8.  Fig.  9.  Fig.  10. 

squares,  although  the  circle,  with  segmentary  arcs  inscribed, 
is  of  frequent  occurrence.  In  the  Gloucester  cathedral,  in- 
side the  nave,  a  perfect  triangle  is  carved ;  the  same  char- 
acter is  visible  in  Furness'  abbey.  In  the  interior  of  St. 
Pierre,  at  Poitiers,  a  triple  triangle  (Fig.  7),  united  at  a 
common  centre,  still  exists  in  a  fine  state  of  preservation. 
St.  Eadigonde  chapel  possesses  a  double  interwined  triangle 


Findel,  Geschichte  der  Freimaurerei,  p.  75. 
Vide  frontispiece. 
28* 


330 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


(Fig.  8),  resembling  a  six-pointed  star.1  The  church  of 
St.  Pierre,  in  Geneva,  said  to  have  been  erected  in  the 
eleventh  century,  contains  an  equilateral  triangle  and  a 
five-pointed  star  (Fig.  9)  —  the  pentalpha.  On  the  facade 
of  Santa  Croce,  Florence,  two  blazing  stars  are  sculptured  ; 
but  the  most  curious  token  in  this  cathedral  is  over  the 
main  portal  —  it  is  the  figure  of  Christ  holding  a  perfect 
square  (Fig.  10)  in  his  hand.  In  York  minster,  several 
marks,  composed  of  double  triangles  (Fig.  11)  conjoined  at 


Fig.  11.  Fig.  12.  Fig.  13.  Fig.  14.  Fig.  15. 

the  outer  edges,  are  visible  on  the  stone  pavement  leading  to 
the  crypt.  The  author  has  in  his  possession  a  Masonic 
mark  taken  from  this  cathedral,  forming  the  letter  M; 
and  also  one,  originally  part  of  a  mullion  in  Selby  abbey 
—  a  triangle  (Fig.  12)  with  elongated  lines.  A  pental- 
pha (Fig.  13)  occurs  on  the  ruined  walls  of  St.  Mary's  ab- 
bey, at  York ;  also  two  interlaced  squares.  Fountain's 
abbey  presents  an  infinite  diversity  of  these  signs,  display- 
ing nearly  every  variety  of  lines  and  circles,  which,  com- 
bined, form  angles  and  squares,  crosses  and  segments  of  arcs. 

There  is  a  curious  triangle  (Fig.  14)  of  frequent  recur- 
rence in  the  great  cathedrals  of  Europe  —  strictly  equilat- 
eral, with  a  dot  or  point  in  the  centre,  equi-distant  from 
the  sides.  One  of  this  style  is  carved  on  the  interior  of  the 
Cologne  minster.  Another  of  similar  type,  inside  the 
edifice,  is  surmounted  with  a  figure  4  (Fig.  15). 

Upon  the  pilasters  flanking  the  entrance  to  St.  Marc's 
cathedral,  at  Venice,  built,  as  before  stated,  by  Byzantine 
workmen,  the  marks  exhibit  the  same  unvarying  characters 
of  angles  and  circles  which  so  frequently  present  them- 


1  Archceologia,  Vol.  XXX.,  PI.  vi.-xi.  In  nearly  every  instance,  the  -writer 
has  verified  the  marks  given  in  this  volume  by  personal  presence. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


331 


selves  in  European  churches.  A  double  triangle  (Fig.  16), 
here  visible,  is  mounted  by  a  straight  line,  with  intersecting 
lines  at  the  top,  which  give  it  the  appearance  of  the  feath- 
ered end  of  an  arrow.  This  Masonic  indentation  is  wide- 
spread and  numerous.  The  church  of  St.  Pierre,  Geneva 
(Fig.  17),  has  one  engraved  on  an  interior  supporting  col- 
umn,  lumbers  of  identical  shape  are  found  in  Fountain's 


Fig.  16. 


Fig.  17.  Fig.  18.  Fig.  19. 

abbey.  The  perfect  circle  (Fig.  18),  with  a  segmentary 
six-pointed  star  inscribed,  is  also  chiselled  on  a  pillar  in 
Saint  Marc's.  A  three-pointed  star  (Fig.  19),  of  exactly 
similar  design,  may  be  seen  both  at  Fountain's  and  Selby 
abbeys,  and  in  the  church  of  Saint  Pierre. 

Throughout  Germany,  from  Dusseldorf  to  the  Alps,  the 
churches  and  other  sacred  edifices  bear  unmistakable 
evidence  of  the  handicraft  of  our  ancient  builders.1  A 
curious  memorial  mark  is  still  extant  in  the  cathedral  at 
Gloucester.  It  consists  of  a  perfect  square,  with  battle- 
ments, and  springs  horizontally  from  the  side  wall.  The 
dimensions  are  three  feet  two  inches  in  length,  by  two 
feet  two  inches  in  breadth. 

Tradition  says  the  master  builder,  being  highly  incensed 
at  an  apprentice  Mason  who  had  failed  to  work  conform- 
ably to  his  instructions,  hurled  him  from  the  scaffolding 
to  the  marble  pavement  below.    To  commemorate  this 


1  Une  compagnie  de  francs-niacons  qui  ont  marqu£  de  leurs  signatures 
hieroglyphiques  les  pierres,  de  ce  monument  ainsi,  que  toutes  celles  qu'ils  ont 
tallies  dans  la  vallee  du  Khin  dejmis  Dusseldorf  jusqu'aux  Alpes.  Lacroix, 
Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  3G5. 


332  THE  EARL  Y  HIST  OR  Y  AND 


terrible  death,  the  Master  caused  this  projecting  square  to 
be  built.  On  one  of  the  columns  supporting  the  principal 
entrance  to  the  Freiburg  church,  a  life-sized  statue  of  King 
Solomon  is  elevated,  with  a  mace  in  one  hand  and  his 
head  covered  with  a  mitred  crown. 

Saint  Margaret's  church,  at  York,  presents  curious 
figures  embossed  in  a  concave  circle  in  the  arched  door- 
ways. One  of  these  images  apparently  stands  before  an 
altar  with  upraised  arms.  This  personage,  according  to 
the  conjecture  of  a  learned  antiquary,1  is  most  worshipful 
King  Solomon  himself.  His  head-dress  contains  a  triad 
(Fig.  6),2  or  equilateral  triangle,  which  the  writer  alluded 
to  interprets  to  signify  the  three  attributes  of  that  illus- 
trious monarch,  viz. :  wisdom,  strength,  and  beauty.  This 
portico,  which  is  much  older  than  the  main  building,  was 
constructed  about  the  eleventh  century. 

Stieglitz 3  and  Fallou 4  have  furnished  engravings  of  two 


1  Browne,  An  Attempt  to  Ascertain  the  Age  of  the  Porch  of  St.  Margaret's 
Church,  p.  14. 

2  This  figure  was  known  to  the  ancients  and  symbolized  by  the  Pythago- 
reans as  a  type  of  plenty.  Creuzer,  Symbolik  und  Mythologie  der  Allen  Voelker, 
Bd.  I.,  p.  277.  Pythagoras  divided  the  triangle  into  six  parts,  collectively 
representing  the  elements.  Ibid.,  Bd.  III.,  p.  309.  Among  the  Egyptians, 
was  emblematic  of  the  incarnation  of  Osiris  and  Apis.  Ibid.,  Bd.  I.,  p.  423. 
Creuzer,  op.  et  hoc.  cit,  says  the  Mithraic  mysteries  were  introduced  into  Ger- 
many in  the  fourth  century,  by  Roman  legions.  He  also  conjectures,  from  the 
pentagon  or  five-pointed  star  being  found  on  Gallic  coins,  that  the  doctrines 
of  Pythagoras,  at  an  early  date,  were  transmitted  and  adopted  by  the  Druids : 
Pythagorische  Lehren  zu  den  Druiden  nach  Gallien  fortgepflanzt  worden  und 
das  Pentagon  auf  Gallischen  Munzen  eine  religioese  Bedeutung  hat.  Sym- 
bolik und  Mythologie,  etc.,  Bd.  IV.,  p.  402.  Egyptians  symbolized  their  deities 
by  a  triangle,  most  usually  by  three  lines  or  three  human  legs  springing  from 
a  centre  —  called  a  Trinacria.  It  is  of  Asiatic  origin.  Payne  Knight,  In- 
quiry into  the  Symbolic  Language  of  the  Ancients,  pp.  182, 183.  Triangle  basis 
of  Wildred's  work  on  Architecture.  Luebke,  Geschichte  der  Plastik,  p.  335. 
Significance  of  triad.  Vide  Krause,  Die  Drei  odtesten  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  I., 
Ab.  2,  p.  419  (note).  The  double  triad  was  of  great  potency  among  the  early 
mediaeval  Jews.    Ben  Maimonides,  More  Nevochim,  p.  119. 

3  Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  der  Bnukunst,  Bd.  II.,  p.  112. 

4  Mysierien  der  Freimaurer,  Tafel.  II.,  Fig.  19. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


333 


symbolic  columns,  to  which  a  remote  antiquity  is  ascribed, 
copied  from  originals  in  the  Wurzburg  cathedral,  founded 
by  Bishop  Henry,  in  the  eleventh  century.  These  pillars 
were  evidently  wrought  by  Grecian  artificers,  who,  as 
previously  stated,  maintained  in  Germany  a  vigorous  exist- 
ence, in  a  corporate  form,  until  the  century  just  mentioned. 
They  stand  isolated  and  support  no  superstructure — distant 
from  the  main  wall,  at  the  side  of  a  Gothic  doorway. 
Unpretentious  in  appearance,  carved  out  of  dark  brown 
stone,  they  afford  a  striking  contrast  with  the  bare,  white 
wall  of  the  cathedral.. 

That  these  columns  did  not  originally  belong  to  the 
edifice,  Stieglitz  has  clearly  demonstrated.1  The  new  min- 
ster at  Wurzburg,  erected  in  place  of  one  destroyed  by  a 
conflagration,  was  constructed  by  Bishop  Henry  as  master 
builder  of  the  work,  in  the  early  portion  of  the  eleventh 
century.  This  second  structure  bears  the  following 
inscription :  Henricas  we  fecit,  and  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  these  columns  were  raised  with  a  typical 
design  by  that  Master  Mason.  Henry  was  deeply  skilled 
in  the  secret  geometric  arts  of  the  craft,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  pillars  referred  to  were  displayed  to  sym- 
bolize the  mystical  union  of  the  mediaeval  builders.  A 
square  entablature  surmounts  these  columns  ;  on  the  outer 
edge  of  one  stands  forth,  in  nearly  obliterated  letters,  the 
significant  word,  Jachin  ;  on  the  inner  edge  of  the  other, 
is  the  name  Boaz.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  church 
erected  by  Bishop  Henricus,  as  architect,  was  dedicated  to 
Saint  John,  who  thus  early  appears  to  have  been  a  patron 
saint  of  operative  Masons.2 

The  capitals  or  chapters  of  these  columns  were  evidently 
a  close  imitation  of  their  prototypes  flanking  the  aisle  of 
King  Solomon's  temple,  and  present  the  appearance  of 
embossed  intertwining  of  wreaths,  leaves,  fruits,3  etc. 

1  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  621. 

2  Stieglitz,  op.  cit.,  p.  623. 

8  Such  columns  were  frequently  found  at  the  side  of  entrances  to  old 


334 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


The  idea  involved  in  these  emblematic  pillars  seems  to 
have  been  to  portray  to  initiates  the  necessity  of  strong 
and  enduring  unity  among  the  craftsmen  ;  the  principal 
element  of  cohesive  power  in  the  construction  of  edifices ; 
the  vertical  and  horizontal  principles  of  geometric  art, 
and  the  ever-recurring  use  of  the  square  and  level,  the 
symbolism  of  which  was  rigidly  preserved,  as  already 
stated,  in  lodge  ritual.  In  them  a  direct  recognition  is 
made  of  the  Judaistic  elements  in  mediaeval  Masonic 
culture,  —  elements  introduced  apparently  by  Byzantine 
workmen,  and  readily  assimilated  by  the  Gothic  artificers. 

After  a  careful  consideration  of  the  subject  of  Mason's 
marks,  I  am  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  the  system  and 
style  of  incisions  engraved  by  the  mediaeval  craftsmen 
upon  their  material,  are  the  result  of  a  combination  of 
proprietary  regulations  which"  existed  at  a  very  early  age 
in  both  the  Eastern  and  Latin  empires  ;  also,  that  these 
tokens  were  in  use  among  the  Byzantine  corporations  at 
the  close  of  the  fifth  century.  Although  these  marks  in 
Europe  do  not  with  certainty  appear  earlier  than  the  tenth 
century  —  as  in  the  case  of  the  geometric  tracery  on  the 
columns  of  Saint  Marc's  —  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  a 
more  ancient  application  of  them.  When  it  is  remem- 
bered that  few,  if  any,  of  the  churches  of  Western  Europe, 
of  the  time  of  Charlemagne  or  the  Carlovingian  dynasty, 
escaped  the  terrible  devastations  of  barbaric  warfare, 
religious  zeal,  the  destructive  energy  of  time  and  natural 
change,  a  satisfactory  reason  is  furnished  to   solve  the 

churches.  Fallon,  Mi/sterien  der  Freimaurer,  p.  216.  Pillars  for  the  Paderborn 
dome  were  prepared  at  the  instigation  of  Bishop  Meinwerk,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  eleventh  century,  by  Byzantine  artisans,  whom  he  imported  for  that 
purpose.  Luebke,  Geschichte  der  Architectur,  p.  253.  During  the  last  century, 
in  French  lodges,  these  columns  were  placed  due  north  and  south,  near  the 
west  entrance.  According  to  the  lecture,  apprentices  received  their  wages  at 
the  Column  of  Jachin,  in  the  north,  while  Fellows  were  paid  at  the  Pillar  of 
Boaz,  in  the  south.  Les  apprentis  recevaient  leur  salaire  a  la  colonne  J.'., 
les  compagnons  a  celle  B.\,  et  les  maitres,  dans  la  chambre  du  Milieu.  Regu- 
lateur  da  Macon  (Grade  de  Mait.),  p.  17. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


335 


problem  why  no  authentic  Masonic  characters  of  a  date 
prior  to  the  tenth  century  have  descended  to  our  day.  At 
all  events,  the  earliest  unquestioned  Masonic  marks  are 
coeval  with  the  era  when  Eastern  builders  conducted  the 
principal  architectural  labors  of  Europe,  and,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  Venetian  edifice,  have  left  undoubted  evidence  of 
their  connection  with  the  subsequently  vast  fraternity  of 
operative  Masons.  The  carved  outlines  on  the  pillars  of 
Saint  Marc's  are,  in  all  respects,  analogous  to  the  geometric 
characters  constantly  recurring  with  unvarying  uniformity 
at  a  later  period  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Similar  marks,  evidently  for  purposes  of  proprietary 
distinction,  were  used  by  Oriental  artificers  in  very  remote 
times.  Those  discovered  in  Palestine  are  an  exact  coun- 
terpart of  the  carvings  which  mediaeval  builders  were 
accustomed  to  cut  upon  blocks  of  stone,  worked  up  in  the 
construction  of  great  European  cathedrals.  At  Sidon,  in 
the  ruined  walls  of  the  citadel,  peculiar  marks  are  visible, 
as,  for  instance,  straight  lines,  angles,  and  crosses.  Equi- 
lateral triangles  occur  frequently,  and  are,  in  all  points,  a 
prototype  of  those  incised  upon  the  churches  of  France 
and  Germany. 

By  a  mere  possibility,  these  might  be  an  accidental 
coincidence,  but  the  steady  recurrence  of  others  of  singular 
shape  and  construction  evinces  a  regular,  direct,  and  sys- 
tematic uniformity  existing  between  builders'  signs  in  the 
East  and  those  used  in  Western  Europe.  The  intertwined 
angle  or  compass  (Fig.  20)  has  been  found  at  Sidon,  together 
with  a  bisected  triad  (Fig.  21).  Like  combinations  are 
visible  in  Fountain's  abbey.  Three  intersecting  straight 
lines  are  carved  on  a  block  in  Sidon  ;  one  of  entire  identity 
presents  itself  in  the  abbey  mentioned.  A  plain  cross  of 
two  intersecting  lines  appears,  both  on  a  fragmentary  stone 
at  Sidon,  and  on  a  freestone  block  at  Fountain's  abbey. 
The  same  indentation  may  be  seen  in  Selby  abbey.  Three 
intersected  lines  (Fig.  22),  the  bisected  angle,  simple  cross 
(Fig.  23),  are  also  chiselled  on  the  walls  of  Gloucester 


336 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


cathedral,  St.  Mary's,  at  Radcliffe,  Malmsbury  cathedral, 
Furness  abbey,  and  Cheetham  college,  Manchester.  Inter- 
laced compasses,  precisely  similar  to  those  of  Sidon,  occur 
in  the-  church  of  St.  Pierre,  France,  and  on  an  edifice  in 
Cologne.  The  splendid  ruins  of  Baalbec  display  a  peculiar 
geometric  mark,  coinciding  with  the  figure  4  (Fig.  24), 

XX  4^  *  + 

Fig.  20.  Fig.  21.  Fig.  22.  Fig.  23. 

above  alluded  to,  of  which  an  exact  counterpart  is  fur- 
nished by  the  Cologne  minster.  Innumerable  squares  and 
angles  are  hewn  on  separate  stone  blocks  at  Sidon,  and 
betray  a  wonderful  similarity  to  such  Masonic  incisions  as 
are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  cathedrals  of  Europe, —  the  un- 
questioned distinctive  signs  of  our  ancient  craftsmen. 

One  Sidonian,  or  Phenician,  character  consists  of  a 
straight  line,  from  the  centre  of  which  two  lines  diverge, 
forming  the  two  sides  of  a  right  angle  (Fig.  25).  This 
mark  is  found  at  Cologne,  and  on  the  church  walls  of  Saint 
Agnes,  in  Avignon.  Among  the  curious  discoveries  made 
by  the  Palestine  Exploration  Company,  are  the  foundations 
of  King  Solomon's  temple  at  Jerusalem.  On  the  lowest 
stones,  upon  which  that  structure  was  raised  with  Pheni- 
cian skill,  engraved  tokens  of  peculiar  shape  and  outline 
may  be  seen.  Contrary  to  the  custom  of  mediaeval  Free- 
masons, the  temple  builders  appear  to  have  carved  more 
than  one  mark  on  each  piece  of  work. 

The  system  of  multiplying  the  incisions  on  single  blocks 
leads  to  a  rational  doubt  as  to  the  original  design  contem- 
plated in  engraving  these  marks  on  the  temple  foundations. 
That  they  should  be  classed  generally  under  the  denomi- 
nation of  builders'  tokens,  is  a  plausible  inference,  beyond 
which  it  is  unsafe  to  venture.  Two  of  these  characters, 
however,  resemble  a  Mason's  mark  at  Fountain's  abbey, 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


337 


in  shape  similar  to  the  letter  H  (Fig.  26).  A  simple  cross, 
such  as  has  been  adverted  to,  is  cut  on  a  stone  adjoin- 
ing the  marks  mentioned,  and  is  a  counterpart  of  the  two 
intersecting  lines  previously  described.  But  one  of  these 
geometric  figures  is  of  a  combination  which  induces  the 
belief  that  its  occurrence  on  the  temple  walls  is  far  from 


Fig,  24.  Fig.  25.  Fig.  26.  Fig.  27. 


accidental.  It  is  composed  of  a  single  line  (Fig.  27),  with 
one  radiating  from  a  central  point,  and  at  an  oblique 
angle.  One  of  this  kind  has  been  discovered  at  Sidon. 
Fountain's  abbey  contains  numbers  of  a  singularly  exact 
identity,  and  one  of  like  construction  may  be  seen  on  a 
block  of  stone  in  St.  Andrew's  cathedral  at  Cologne. 

It  is  in  harmony  with  dispassionate  judgment,divested  of 
equivocal  zeal,  to  assume,  upon  the  facts  produced  in  the 
preceding  pages,  that  the  signs  found  in  distant  and  varied 
localities  of  Palestine  were  perpetuated  by  Byzantine 
architects,  who,  with  art  knowledge  and  Jewish  traditions, 
contributed  the  formal  geometric  outlines  and  indentations 
to  the  substantial  Teutonic  system  of  proprietary  marks. 

The  Sidonian  incisions  are  of  an  infinite  variety,  and, 
throughout,  an  unvarying  type  of  those  universally  used 
by  operative  Masons  during  the  Middle  Ages.  When  it 
is  considered  that  the  earliest  application  of  these  charac- 
ters in  Europe  antedates  the  eleventh  century,  for  instance, 
those  of  St.  Marc's,  and  that  this  cathedral  was  erected  by 
Byzantine  artificers  imported  from  Greece,  I  think  the 
connecting  chain  will  admit  the  rational  assumption  that 
builders'  tokens  were  in  use  in  Solomon's  time, —  tokens 
precisely  identical  with  those  carefully  chiselled  into  pol- 
ished stones  by  mediaeval  Masons,  at  a  period  when  indis- 
putable history  permits  us  to  reaffirm  the  traditions  of  the 
29  W 


338 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


craft.  Masonic  marks  constituted  an  essential  portion  of 
lodge  ritual  during  the  Middle  Ages.1  With  these,  each 
stone  delivered  for  inspection  was  indented,  in  order  that 
the  workmanship  of  the  artisans  might  be  properly  distin- 
guished. They  were  also  regarded  as  a  testimonial  of  honor; 
and  each  Entered  Apprentice  Mason  was  given  a  mark  on 
his  admission  to  the  degree  of  a  Fellow.2  There  is  no  doubt 
that  the  principle  involved  in  a  builder's  mark  of  the  Middle 
Ages  had  existed  almost  coeval  with  the  Teutonic  races. 

Under  the  oldest  judicial  system,  among  the  Norse 
nations,  no  rule  was  better  established  than  the  one  which 
required  the  possessor  of  certain  chattels,  —  for  instance, 
horses,  cattle,  sheep,  etc., —  in  order  to  become  the  indis- 
putable owner  of  his  property,  to  have  a  well-defined  and 
distinctive  mark,  which  he  must  brand  upon  his  goods, 
and  also,  as  it  appears,  keep  the  same  sign  of  record. 
Such  characters  were  composed  of  lines  and  angles,  and  in 
this  respect  corresponded  with  the  craftsman's  proprietary 
incisions.3  A  rigid  rule  made  it  necessary  that  each  Mason 
should  select  his  mark,  grounded  upon  a  geometric  figure.4 

Regular  tribunals  had  jurisdiction  in  all  matters  per- 
taining to  proprietary  marks.5  This  system  of  personal 
ownership  was  recognized  at  a  very  early  age  in  England.6 
In  the  ancient  Gothic  legal  code,  recourse  was  had  to  sorti- 
lege in  the  division  of  inherited  property.    Each  heir 

1  Diese  Steinmetzzeichen  waren  ein  wesentlicher  Theil  Hiitteneinrichtung. 
Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  614.    Vide  Luebke,  Plastik,  p.  442. 

2  Es  soil  auch  Keiner  sein  ehrenzeichen  fur  sich  selbs  und  eignes  gewalts, 
nicht  endern.  Ordnung  der  Sleinmelzen  v.  Y.  1459,  Art.  59 ;  Stieglitz,  op.  cit., 
p.  615.    Designated  "  Ehrenzeichen,"  honor  marks. 

3  Schauberg,  SymboWc  der  Freimaurerei,  BJ.  L,  p.  96. 

4  Fallou,  Mysterien  der  Freimaurer,  p.  69. 

5  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthumer,  p.  528,  etseq.,  and  Schulte,  Reichs  und 
Rechtsgeschichte,  pp.  231-435  ;  Maurer,  Geschichte  der  Markenverfassung,  p.  132. 

6  By  the  statute  of  5  Henry  III.,  enacted  in  the  year  1266,  bakers  were  com- 
pelled to  have  a  mark  for  their  bread.  The  ordinances  of  the  Worcester 
Guild  required  that  each  Tyler  should  possess  a  distinctive  mark:  every 
tyller  makynge  and  sillynge  it  into  the  cite,  sett  his  propre  marke  uppon  his 
tyle,  etc.  Smith,  English  Guilds,  p.  399 ;  also,  p.  374,  where  he  is  forced  to  put 
it  on  his  tyle. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


339 


selected  a  Runic  character,  after  which  the  wooden  pieces 
on  which  these  hieroglyphics  were  engraved  were  placed 
in  a  house  utensil,  or  thrown  upon  a  white  cloth.  The 
Runic  mark  decided  the  individual  share,  and  subsequently 
became  the  sign  of  proprietorship.  These  marks  were 
designated  as  "  Hausmarke," — housemarks.1 

The  regulation  of  the  year  1459  throws  no  light  upon 
this  interesting  and  important  subject.  One  reference 
alone  is  made,  and  that  is,  when  a  Fellow-craftsman  re- 
ceives his  mark,  he  shall  never  change  it,2  except  by 
unanimous  consent  f  but  the  venerable  Torgau  ordinance 
of  1462,  so  frequently  quoted  in  the  progress  of  this  work, 
affords  much  valuable  information  touching  the  time  when 
this  investiture  was  made,  and  what  was  the  effect  of  it.4 

As  hitherto  stated,  upon  the  termination  of  an  appren- 
ticeship, and  upon  the  apprentice  receiving  the  degree  of  a 
Fellow,  he  was  entitled  to  possess  a  separate  and  individual 
mark,  which  he  must  thenceforth  incise  upon  his  work. 
As  a  rule,  these  signs  were  confined  to  the  Fellows,  and  no 
apprentice  could  obtain  one  unless  under  peculiar  circum- 
stances.   For  instance,  if  the  Master  were  unable  to  keep 

1  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  508.  These  were  registered.  The  her- 
aldic mark  of  the  ancient  fraternity  consisted  of  three  towers,  and  a  pair  of 
compasses  between.    Edmondson,  On  Heraldry,  sub  voce  Freemason. 

2  Und  eignes  gewalts  nicht  endern.    Ordnung  der  Steinmelzen  vom  Yahre  1459. 

3  Ordnung  der  Strassburger  Haupthiitie,  1563.  Vide  Krause,  Die  Drei  Kun- 
sturlcunden  der  Freimaurer,  Bd.  II.,  Ab.  1,  p.  311. 

4  Certain  tokens  were  selected  by  members  of  mediaeval  guilds  and  worn  as 
distinctive  badges  of  their  several  orders.  Among  the  acts  of  an  ecclesiastical 
council,  held  in  the  year  1368,  attention  was  directed  to  the  fact  that  many 
societies,  organized  in  those  troublous  times  for  purposes  of  protection,  com- 
pelled their  members  to  display  about  their  persons  society  marks  and  char- 
acters: et  interdum  se  omnes  veste,  consimili  cum  signis  aliquibis  exquisitis  vel 
characteribus  inducentes.  Concil.  Vaurensi.,  Tome  XV.,  c.  37.  One  guild,  in- 
stituted in  the  year  1379,  mentioned  by  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  des  Mittel- 
alters,  p.  223,  used  a  circle,  with  segments  displayed  within,  both  as  a  mark 
of  the  fraternity,  to  be  worn  by  the  members,  and  as  a  symbol  of  trinity. 
Corporations  had  banners  and  shields  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Lacroix,  Les 
Moeurs  et  Usages,  p.  295, 'etc.  Also,  shields  under  Roman  emperors.  Trebell. 
Pollio,  In  Gallien.,  cap.  8. 


V 


340  THE  EARL  Y  HISTOR T  AND 

the  young  craftsman  employed,  on  account  of  a  scarcity  of 
work,  he  was  allowed  by  the  ordinance  of  the  fraternity  to 
loan  him  his  own,  notwithstanding  the  apprenticeship  had 
not  expired.  This  was  permitted,  in  order  that  the  work- 
man might  travel  with  a  mark  and  obtain  wages.1  With 
this  exception,  it  was  expressly  forbidden  a  Master  .to 
invest  his  apprentice  with  a  mark  until  he  had  faithfully 
performed  a  lawful  servitude  to  the  trade.2  When  this 
term  of  years  had  elapsed,  the  Master  was  compelled  to 
give  the  newly-initiated  Fellow  a  token,  within  fourteen 
days  of  his  expired  term,  unless  specific  obligations  inter- 
fered ;  in  such  case  the  craftsman  must  tender  satisfaction 
before  receiving  the  mark.3 

The  presentation  of  this  honorable  distinction  was  ac- 
companied with  ceremony,  and  always  with  a  feast.  When* 
the  time  had  been  designated  for  this  purpose,  the  Master 
invited  a  few  ecclesiastics,  and  not  more  than  ten  Fellows.4 
The  banquet,  which  was  at  the  lodge's  expense,  consisted 
of  a  reasonable  supply  of  wheat  bread  —  a  penny-worth ! 
fifteen  groschen  worth  of  rye  bread,  fifteen  groschen  worth 
of  meat,  and  the  inevitable  casks  of  wine.5  And  in  case 
the  new  Fellow  desired  more  guests,  he  was  obliged  to 
pay  the  expense  of  increased  numbers  —  a  rule  which,  it  is 
apprehended,  made  these  repasts  still  more  frugal ! 

Mediaeval  Freemasons  used  their  marks  in  place  of  seals.6 
This  practice  was  also  common  to  minsters  and  cathedrals, 
as  the  seals  of  Strassburg  and  Freiburg,  in  Brisgau,  clearly 
attest.  The  Strassburg  die  was  circular  in  shape,  similar  to 
an  escutcheon  shield,  and  inscribed  in  it  were  a  level,  two 
mallets,  and  a  pair  of  compasses.  But  the  most  curious, 
perhaps,  excepting  the  intertwined  compasses  of  Melrose 
abbey,  already  described,  is  the  ancient  seal  of  a  Dresden 

1  Da  mag  ein  Meister  seinen  Diener  ein  zeichen  verleihen  in  sein  Leryaren 
zu  wandern.    Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen,  14(52,  Art.  30.  2  Ibid.,  Art.  31. 

3  Ibid.,  Art.  26.    Kloss,  Die  Frcimaur.  in  ihrer  wah.  Bedeulung,  p.  221,  \  76. 

-  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  vom  Yahre  1462,  Art.  27.  5  Ibid. 

6  Die  Steinmetzen  bedienten  sich  solcher  Zeichen  audi  anstatt  Siegel.  Stieg- 
litz,  Geschichte  der  Biukunst,  p.  615. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


341 


lodge  of  Masons.  This  also  is  perfectly  round.  The  in- 
terior of  the  circle  is  filled  with  an  uneven-edged  heraldic 
badge,  on  which  are  engraved  a  pair  of  compasses,  with  a 
square  displayed  in  position  over  both  points  ;  from  the 
angle  of  the  square  a  triangular  level  depends.1 

After  presentation  of  the  mark,  it  was  transcribed,  or 
rather  enrolled,  upon  the  Master's  tablet  or  book  of  tokens, 
where  these  characters  were  preserved  for  each  lodge.2  A 
record  of  this  kind  is  still  extant  at  Basle,  dating  back  to 
the  sixteenth  century.  The  use  of  such  tablets  is  of  the 
highest  antiquity.  The  goldsmiths  of  Gand,  in  the  year 
1470,  in  conformity  to  governmental  direction,  established 
a  system  of  registry  for  private  proprietary  marks,  in  the 
interest  of  their  trade.3  The  tablet  alluded  to  is  made  of 
copper,  and  contains  the  names  of  members  of  the  corpo- 
ration, with  the  distinctive  mark  prefixed  to  each  name.4 
No  resemblance  whatever  exists  between  the  characters 
used  by  the  jewellers  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  the  marks 
of  the  ancient  builders.  As  already  stated,  both  the  ordi- 
nances of  1459  and  1462  prescribed  certain  rules  for  the 
acquisition  of  marks  and  their  preservation.5 

1  Stieglitz,  Ueber  die  Kirche  der  heiligen  Kunigunde  zu  Rochlitz,  app.  4  and  5, 
furnishes  copies  of  these  seals. 

2  Meister  Tafeln  welche  die  Zeichen  der  Meister  aufbewahren.  Ibid.,  Ge- 
schichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  615. 

3  Les  maitres  etaient  tenus  d'apposer  sur  leurs  ouvrages  une  marque  de 
fabrique,  un  seing  particulier  qui  devait  servir  de  garantie  pour  l'acheteur. 
Lacroix,  Les  Moeurs  et  Usages  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  325. 

*  Lacroix,  Les  Moeurs  et  Usages  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  325.  It  may  be  added 
here,  #s  connected  with  the  subject,  that  tokens  were  worn  by  members  of 
secret  societies  in  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages  for  superstitious  purposes. 
Payne  Knight,  History  of  the  Worship  of  Priapus,  p.  170 ;  also,  Westropp  and 
Wake,  Ancient  Symbol  Worship,  p.  31.  Pilgrims  to  sainted  shrines  wore  tokens 
in  the  time  of  Giraldus  Cambrenesis,  which  were  called  signacula, — small  signs. 
Anglia  Sacra,  Tome  II.,  p.  481.  Fosbroke,  British  Monachism,  p.  359,  inter- 
prets them  to  be  "  Canterbury  Bells."  The  whole  of  this  custom  is  evidently 
derived  from  remote  Paganism,  —  especially  the  Norse, —  when  priests  and 
people  carried  about  their  persons  the  symbols  of  favorite  deities.  Simrock, 
Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  499. 

5  Ord'nung  der  Steinmetzen,  1459,  Art.  73 ;  Ibid.,  1462,  Art.  26 ;  also,  Kloss, 
Die  Freirnaurerei  in  ihrer  wahren  Bcdeutung,  pp.  219,  221-2. 
29* 


342 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


It  was  rigidly  prohibited  a  Fellow-craft  securing  such 
distinctive  token,  except  under  the  circumstances  as  pre- 
viously narrated.  In  case  it  occurred  that  a  craftsman, 
failing  to  serve  a  regular  apprenticeship,  or  for  other 
causes,  was  not  possessed  of  a  mark  in  accordance  with 
strict  regulations,  but  had  purchased  one,  lawful  masons 
could  neither  work  nor  hold  Masonic  intercourse  with 
him.1  All  work  was  inspected  by  a  Pallirer  or  Warden, 
and  no  mark  could  be  hewn  upon  stone  work  until  the 
same  had  been  submitted  for  examination,  whether  it  had 
been  duly  prepared  and  wrought  out  in  harmony  with  the 
architectural  plans.2  Any  evasion  of  this  rule  was  pun- 
ished by  a  line  of  a  half  pound  of  wax.  A  like  penalty 
was  imposed  on  all  Fellows  entering  lodge  during  hours 
of  labor  without  permission  or  direction.3 

It  sometimes  happened  that  a  regular  craftsman,  who 
had  learned  the  work,  appeared  in  conclave  and  asked  to 
be  invested  with  a  mark.  The  Master,  if  satisfied  with 
the  justice  of  his  demand,  was  compelled  to  grant  his 
request.  However,  the  strange  brother  was  necessitated 
to  give  unto  God's  holy  service  such  assessment  as  the 
lodge  awarded,  and  in  addition  it  was  carefully  insisted 
upon  he  must  set  a  banquet  of  double  the  usual  size  and 
allowance  for  his  considerate  Fellows  ! 4  From  the  forego- 
ing it  will,  I  trust,  sufficiently  appear  that  the  points 
adverted  to  were,  so  early  as  the  years  1459  and  1462,  an 
undisputed  part  of  symbolic  or  Blue  Lodge  Masonry,  and 
that  they  were  the  entire  property  of  Fellow-craft  Masons. 

1  Ordnung,  cit.,  1462,  Art.  94. 

2  Welcher  geselle  sein  zeichen  anschlecht  ob  er  recht  gemacht  sey.  Ibid., 
Art.  72.  3  Ibid.,  he.  cit. 

4  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  vom  Yahre  1462,  Art,  25.  In  many  guilds,  it  was 
customary  to  keep  a  Black  List,  upon  which  the  names  of  delinquent  members 
were  entered,  whether  disfranchised  or  suspended  from  guildic  privileges. 
Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  des  Mittelalters,  p.  285 ;  Smith,  English  Guilds,  pp.  170, 
156,  403 ;  Cibrario,  Frammenti  Storici,  p.  208. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Byzantine  Art  in  Europe  —  The  Translation  of  the  Roman  Capi- 
tal to  Byzantium  — The  Centre  of  Fine  Arts  —  Greek  Archi- 
tecture in  Foreign  Lands  —  Introduced  into  Italy  at  an  Early 
Age  —  Grecian  Artists  in  Spain  —  Paganization  of  Christianity 
—  Mosaic  Pavement  and  Star  —  The  Christian  Church  Perpet- 
uates Paganism  —  Byzantine  Butlders  are  the  Heirs  of  Ancient 
Craftsmen  —  Corporations  of  Greek  Artisans  Reorganize  on 
a  Christian  Basis  —  Geometricians  Honored  —  Ancient  Col- 
leges Destroyed  —  Guilds  of  Tradesmen  Allowed  by  Imperial 
Rome  —  Immunities  to  Corporations  of  Builders  at  Byzantium — 
Old  Traditions  Assimilated  to  the  New  Faith. 

REQUENT  allusion  has  been  made  in  the  pro- 
gress of  this  work  to  the  influence  exercised  by 
Byzantine  artificers  upon  architectural  and  other 
arts  in  Western  Europe.  It  has  already  been 
narrated  that  the  translation  of  the  capital  of  the  Roman 
empire  from  the  Eternal  City  to  Byzantium,  or  Constan- 
tinople, produced  an  important  change  in  the  condition  of 
fine  arts.  On  the  destruction  of  Grecian  independence 
and  outlying  colonies  of  that  nation  by  absorption  into 
the  imperial  government,  Greek  architects 1  were  imported 
to  Rome  by  Julius  Csesar  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  a 
style  of  art  to  which  the  Romans  were  strangers. 

Under  such  royal-  patronage  these  skilled  artists  con- 

1  Stieglitz,  Baukunst  der  Griechen  und  Roemer,  Bd.  L,  p.  43.  The  people  of 
Rome  depended,  from  very  ancient  times,  for  architectural  art,  upon  foreigners, 
because,  according  to  Livy,  Hist.  Rom.,  Lib.  I.,  c.  56,  the  Etruscans  provided 
their  neighbors  with  fine  buildings.  Vide  Tiraboschi,  Storia  della  Leltera- 
tura  Itcdiana,  Tomo  I.,  p.  17,  etc. 

343 


344 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AXD 


tinuecl  to  exert  a  permanent  influence  in  architecture, 
which  had  attained  a  high  degree  in  the  year  328,  when 
Constant  ine  removed  the  seat  of  government.  Untram- 
melled by  the  traditions  of  Pagan  Rome,  the  Christian 
proselyte  artisans  were  at  liberty  to  invent  new  modes  of 
architecture,  or  modify  existing  edifices  and  works  of  art 
into  an  adaptation  to  the  new  religion. 

The  earliest  churches  of  the  Christians  at  Constanti- 
nople and  elsewhere,  were  closely  imitated  after  the 
basilica  in  which  justice  was  judicially  administered  — 
such  changes  only  having  been  made  as  the  exigencies  of 
the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Christians  required.1 

Before  a  century  had  elapsed,  the  most  skilled  workmen 
of  the  empire  were  to  be  found  in  Greece.  Among  the 
edifices  erected  at  Constantinople  by  the  Emperor  Con- 
stantine  himself,  was  one  dedicated  to  the  suggestive  name 
of  Divine  Wisdom.2  Besides  this  church  of  Saint  Sophia, 
rebuilt  at  a  later  period,  others,  also  fallen  into  decay, 
were  repaired  by  the  Emperor  Justinian,  who  employed 
more  than  five  hundred  architects  for  that  purpose.  For 
centuries  Byzantium  continued  to  be  the  source  whence  all 
the  art  knowledge  of  the  civilized  world  was  derived  ;  it 
had  become  the  centre  of  all  the  remaining  arts  and  indus- 
tries, and  of  literature,  which  the  shattered  governments 
of  the  West  were  powerless  to  protect.  The  skilled  Greeks 
of  Constantinople  were  the  arbitri  elegantiarum  for  the  rest 
of  Europe  and  the  Orient,  similar  to  what  Athens  had 


1  Hope,  Historical  Essay  on  Architecture,  chap.  ix.  Touching  the  basilicas, 
Pliny,  Lib.  VL,  c.  83,  may  be  consulted. 

2  Hope,  op.  cit,  p.  124.  Upon  the  completion  of  this  temple,  dedicated  to 
St.  Sophia,  the  emperor  exclaimed :  "  I  have  completed  a  fabric  far  superior 
to  the  one  erected  by  Solomon  at  Jerusalem."  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall  of 
the  Roman  Empire,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  86 ;  Milizia,  Vie  dei  pui  celebri  Architet.ti,  p. 
135.  This  dedication  is  a  clear  recognition  of  the  influence  of  cabalistic 
doctrines,  prevalent  in  Constantine's  time.  Wisdom  was  the  first  in  the  crown 
of  Sephiroth,  and  most  revered  by  the  Jews.  Vide  Buddeus,  Introd.  ad  Histor. 
Philos.  Ebraeor.,  p.  277. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


been  in  remote  antiquity.1  The  arch,  whose  essential  prin- 
ciple had  long  been  known  to  the  ancients,2  was  propagated 
to  Western  Europe  from  Byzantium. 

The  progress  of  Greek  or  Byzantine  architecture  can 
be  traced  with  accuracy  into  foreign  lands.  One  of  the 
first  edifices  erected  in  this  style  was  built  at  Ravenna,  about 
the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  by  Galla  Placidea,  daughter 
of  Theodora,  widow  of  Antalphus,  king  of  the  Goths,  and 
is  constructed  in  the  form  of  a  Grecian  cross.  Byzantine 
architecture  was  thus  early  introduced  into  Italy,  and  in 
the  church  of  San  Vitale,  also  erected  in  Justinian's  time,3 
this  style  is  plainly  discernible. 

Italian  seaport  towns  obtained  their  artificers  directly 
from  Constantinople,  and  a  steady,  uninterrupted  inter- 
course was  maintained  between  the  capital  of  the  Eastern 
empire  and  the  leading  cities  of  Italy.  As  early  as  the 
reign  of  Justinian,  great  numbers  of  Greek  artisans  were 
sent  to  Western  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  rebuilding 
sacred  edifices.  This  demand  and  supply,  as  has  been  pre- 
viously stated,  was  continued  with  little  change  for  many 
centuries,  and  during  this  rapid  interchange  of  distant 
and  partly  homogeneous  nationalities,  the  cathedral  of 
Saint  Marc's,  at  Venice,  was  constructed  by  these  nomadic 
Byzantine  artists.4 

On  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Alps,  earlier  churches,  built 
in  the  age  of  Charlemagne,5  and  later,  were  the  handiwork 

1  Hawkins,  History  of  the  Origin  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  29. 

2  Hope,  ut  supra,  p.  133. 

3  For  general  activity  in  building,  at  home  and  abroad,  under  this  ruler,  see 
Berington,  Literary  Hist,  of  the  Middle  Ages,  pp.  533-4;  Milizia,  op.  cit.,  p.  137. 

4  The  foundations  of  this  city  are  said  to  have  been  laid  in  the  year  420,  by 
a  Candian  Greek,  named  Entinopus.  Hawkins,  History  of  the  Origin  of  Gothic 
Architecture,  p.  27.    Vide  Daru,  Histoire  de  Venice,  Tome  I. 

5  Willis,  Architecture  of  the  Middle  Ages,  p.  18,  says  Byzantine  art  was  first 
brought  into  Italy  by  the  exarchs  of  Ravenna.  He  also  suggests  that  an  in- 
terval in  the  progressive  activity  of  these  artisans  occurred  until  the  eleventh 
century,  when  it  revived.  Continual  and  close  relations  between  Italy  and 
Byzantium.    Cibrario,  Frammenti  Storici,  p.  334. 


346 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


of  Eastern  art  corporations ;  for  instance,  ISTotre  Dame  du 
Don  of  Avignon,  the  cathedral  of  Angouleme,  and  in 
Germany  the  cathedrals  of  Worms,  Speyer,  Mayence,  and 
Gelnhausen.  The  church  of  St.  Castor,  at  Coblentz, 
erected  in  the  year  860,  by  Louis  the  Pious,  and  Santa 
Maria,  of  Cologne,  betray  the  singularly  uniform  char- 
acteristics of  Byzantine  architecture.1 

Artists  from  Constantinojne,  during  the  early  and  Mid- 
dle Ages,  were  eagerly  sought  after  by  the  old  Asiatic 
monarchs,  and  also  by  the  newer  sovereigns  of  the  Occi- 
dent. During  the  reign  of  the  Sassanide  dynasty,  Greeks 
of  every  description  were  in  great  demand  at  the  Persian 
court.  A  prince  of  this  nyyal  race,  Xashervan  by  name, 
although  himself  a  professor  of  the  Magi  religion,  made 
the  singular  request  of  some  Grecian  philosophers  to  come 
and  instruct  his  subjects  in  their  theology.2 

Byzantine  architects  first  instructed  the  Persians  to 
turn  an  arch  and  to  use  and  construct  the  cupola.  Whether 
this  nation  may  have  possessed  an  indigenous  archi- 
tecture is  uncertain,  but  Metradorus,  dissatisfied  at  home, 
in  the  reign  of  Constantine  established  himself  at  Byzan- 
tium as  an  architect.3  This  same  builder  travelled 
through  India,  transmitting  his  art  knowledge  to  the 
people  of  the  far  East,  and  in  return  received  numerous 
jewels  for  his  services.4  Justinian  the  Second  also  em- 
ployed a  Persian  architect  to  design  a  few  of  his  more 
elegant  structures  ;5  but  the  style  of  art  in  vogue  among 
the  Byzantines  was  propagated  to  the  Christians  of  the 
empire  of  Persia. 

When  the  fiery  zeal  of  Mahomet  had  waked  the  slum- 
bering energies  of  the  listless  Arab,  and  diverted  his 
prowess  into  the,  subjugation  and  invasion  of  other  regions  ; 

1  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  p.  142.  2  Ibid.,  chap.  xiii. 

3  Hawkins,  On  the  Origin  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  26  ;  Hope,  Essay  on  Archi- 
tecture, p.  144. 

*  Milizia,  Vie  dei  pui  celebri  Architetti,  p.  129.         5  Hope,  op.  cit.,  p.  145. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


347 


when  the  successful  conquests  under  the  banners  of  Islam 
had  permitted  the  Abasside  caliphs  to  rest  from  the  ex- 
citations of  war,  they  also  directed  their  attention  to  the 
adornment  of  the  conquered  provinces,  and  for  this  pur- 
pose recourse  was  had  to  Byzantium.1 

By  the  attraction  of  liberal  offers,  Grecian  artisans, 
mathematicians,  physicians,  linguists,  and  grammarians 
were  induced  to  seek  preferment  at  the  Saracenic  court. 
In  the  year  820,  a  son  of  Haroun-al-Raschid,  the  friend 
of  Charlemagne,2  applied  to  the  Greek  empire  for  the  best 
works  extant,  in  order  to  have  them  translated  into  Arabic, 
and  read  in  the  Moslem  colleges  of  Corfu,  Borna,  Cairo, 
Tunis,  and  Tripoli.3  Whenever  the  Saracens  successfully 
established  themselves  in  any  country,  their  attention  was 
immediately  turned  to  beautifying  the  towns  and  villages 
by  the  erection  of  sumptuous  edifices ;  and  for  this  pur- 
pose Abderham,  the  most  magnificent  Musselman  ruler  in 
Spain,4  procured  for  Cordova  a  Byzantine  builder.  That 
race,  cognate  with  the  Tartars,  whose  moguls  made  Con- 
stantinople tremble,  and  subsequently  established  their 
empire  in  India,  had  no  sooner  begun  to  cultivate  those 
arts  which  develop  into  a  vigorous  growth  under  the  foster- 


1  "  The  Saracens  and  the  Moors,  like  the  Persians,  not  only  copied  Grecian 
art,  but  employed  Grecian  artists."  Ibid.,  p.  148  ;  Berington,  Literary  History 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  p.  322. 

2  When  Almamon  applied  to  the  court  of  Byzantium  for  Greek  science 
and  art  knowledge,  an  express  recognition  was  given  to  Constantinople  as  con- 
taining within  itself  all  mechanical  skill.  Ibid.,  App.  II.  This  caliph  dili- 
gently collected  in  the  capital  of  the  Eastern  empire  many  valuable  Greek 
manuscripts,  which  were  translated  into  the  Arabic  tongue,  and  became,  in  the 
schools  of  Cordova  and  the  Orient,  reliable  text-books.  Humboldt,  Kosmos, 
p.  303,  an.  (1). 

3  Hope,  ut  supra,  p.  147. 

4  Of  this  valiant  warrior,  Conde,  Historia  de  la  Domination  de  los  Arabes  en 
Espana,  p.  41,  says  that  he  was  insatiable  of  glory,  and  deemed  life  only  of 
value  in  comparison  to  the  gigantic  enterprises  he  undertook  and  accom- 
plished. It  was  he  who  established  the  capital  of  Spain  at  Cordova.  Vide 
Mariana,  Historia  de  Espana,  Tomo  I.,  p.  334. 


348 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


ing  protection  of  peace,  than  they  drew  their  architectural 
models  from  Grecian  sources.  Mr.  Hope1  thus  elegantly 
expresses  the  far-reaching  power  of  this  style  of  art :  u  On 
the  wings  of  Mohammed's  spreading  creed,  wafted  from 
land  to  land  by  the  boundless  conquests  of  his  followers,  the 
architecture  of  Constantinople,  extending  one  way  to  the 
farthest  extremities  of  India,  and  the  other,  to  the  utmost 
outskirts  of  Spain,  provided  throughout  the  whole  of  the 
regions  intervening  between  the.  Ganges  and  the  Guadal- 
quivir—  in  all  of  them  alike,  on  the  very  first  settling  in 
them  of  the  Mohammedans,  we  see  the  noble  features  imme- 
diately appearing,  from  the  application  of  Greek  skill,  in 
full  maturity  of  form  they  had  attained  among  themselves." 

The  energizing  power  of  Byzantine  art  not  only  extended 
from  the  shores  of  the  Indian  Ocean  to  the  surging  waters 
of  the  Atlantic,  but  its  influence  was  felt  in  the  dominions 
of  hyperborean  Russia.  In  the  year  955,  a  Russian  princess, 
named  Elga,  on  her  return  from  Constantinople,  built  at 
KiefF  a  church  in  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross.  Towards  the 
close  of  the  tenth  century,  Vladimir,  the  grand-duke, 
having  embraced  the  Christian  religion,  and  with  it 
adopted  the  Greek  ritual,  immediately  constructed  at 
Kieff,  under  the  direction  of  Byzantine  architects,  a  cathe- 
dral, which  was  dedicated  to  the  significant  name  of 
Divine  Wisdom.  A  church,  similarly  named,  was  erected 
by  a  corporation  of  Greek  builders,  in  the  year  1041,  at 
Novgorod.  All  the  sacred  edifices  built  in  Russia,  until 
the  final  extinction  of  the  Byzantine  empire,  were  the 
handiwork  of  Grecian  artificers.2 

The  earliest  Christians  looked  with  abhorrence  upon 
everything  relating  to  Pagan  worship,  and,  influenced  by 
the  rapid  spread  of  the  new  religion,  a  decree  was  pro- 
mulgated by  Theodosius  ordering  all  heathen  rites  to  be 
abandoned,  Pagan  temples  to  be  destroyed,  and  the  sub- 


1  Essay  on  Architecture,  p.  149,  et  seq. 


2  Hope,  Ibid.,  p.  157. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


349 


stantial  images  of  an  extinct  theology  to  be  forthwith 
destroyed.  By  this  edict  the  works  of  classic  antiquity, 
in  bronze  or  marble,  painting  or  statuary,  which  embodied 
the  spirited  conceptions  of  the  highest  type  of  art,  were 
mingled  in  an  indiscriminate  destruction. 

In  the  time  of  Gregorius  the  Saint,  all  remains  of  idola- 
trous Rome,  still  visible  above  ground,  were  directed  to 
be  cast  into  the  slimy  bed  of  the  Tiber.1  As  the  early 
Christians  were  chiefly  composed  of  Jews  and  Gnostics, 
no  effort  was  made  to  use  the  pencil  or  chisel  to  delineate 
or  carve  out  of  inanimate  marble  any  images,  because 
such  things  invoked  the  especial  abhorrence  of  those 
devout  fanatics. 

The  fourth  century  brought  a  modification  of  the  in- 
tense hatred  to  heathen  imagery,  as  entertained  by  the 
first  church.  Numerous  converts  having  been  added  to 
Christianity  from  the  idolaters  of  Greece  and  Rome,  it 
was  deemed  prudential  that  some  concessions  should  be 
granted  to  image  worship.  From  this  time  until  the 
relentless  war  of  the  iconoclast,  Leo  the  Isaurian,  this 
species  of  ritualism  advanced  with  marvellous  rapidity. 
Although  the  Romans,  towards  the  termination  of  the 
Augustan  age,  employed  for  ornamental  purposes  a  style 
of  inlaid  work  resembling  mosaic,2  yet  the  higher  degree 
of  development  of  this  kind  of  art  was  exclusively  due  to 
the  Greeks  of  Byzantium.  So  much  use  was  made  of 
mosaics  wherever  Grecian  art  extended,  and  so  numerous 
were  the  manufactories  of  them  at  Constantinople,  that 
they  derived  the  distinctive  name  of  opus  graecum?    At  a 


1  Ibid.,  p.  161. 

2  Plinii,  Lib.  XXXVI.,  cap.  25.  "Genus  pavimenti  graecanici."  During 
the  excavations  at  Nimes,  in  the  early  part  of  the  present  century,  many  fine 
specimens  of  this  work  were  exhumed.  Menard,  Histoire  des  Antiquites  de  la 
Ville  de  Nimes,  p.  136. 

3  Mueller,  Archazologie  der  Kunst,  pp.  458,  462;  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Archi- 
tecture in  England,  p.  299. 

30 


350 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


later  period,  when,  on  account  of  the  final  overthrow  of 
the  Greek  empire,  this  elegant  production  could  not  be 
procured  from  Greece,  the  monks  in  the  monasteries  of 
Italy  directed  their  attention  to  the  preparation  of  mosaics 
for  sacred  edifices. 

Those  churches  whose  location  was  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Adriatic,  and  more  immediately  connected  with  the 
Byzantine  empire,  were  the  first  to  show  such  inlaid 
work  ;  as,  for  instance,  the  cathedral  of  Saint  Mark,  at 
Venice.  It  would  seem,  however,  that  the  Grecian  artists 
at  work  in  foreign  lands  were  accustomed  to  import  this 
species  of  embellishment  from  Byzantium,  and  thus  dis- 
seminated it  throughout  Italy  and  Northern  Europe.1  In 
France,  the  oldest  specimen  of  the  mosaic  art  was  pos- 
sessed by  the  Benedictine  convent  of  Clugny.  In  West- 
minster abbey,  on  the  shrine  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  a 
foreign  artist  was  employed,  in  the  year  1270,  to  inlay  the 
monumental  architecture  with  this  work.2 

Whatever  excellence  the  Assyrians,  or  other  nations  of 
a  remote  antiquity,  may  have  attained  in  the  preparation 
of  enamelled  or  glazed  bricks  for  mosaic  decoration,  was 
far  transcended  by  their  more  modern  successors,  the 
artificers  of  the  Eastern  empire.  In  the  application  of 
stained  glass  to  give  subdued,  though  rich  and  varied, 
hues  to  the  brilliant  sunlight,  as  it  streamed  through 
manifold  diamond  squares,  the  Byzantines  were  unri- 
valled. Through  corporations  of  these  artisans,  this  orna- 
mental art  was  transmitted  to  artificers  in  the  north  of 
Europe.  The  opus  graecanicum,  designed  by  the  Greeks,  was 
under  their  exclusive  control  until  the  extinction  of  the 
Eastern  empire.  And  at  the  time  of  the  persecutions  of 
the  image-breakers,  many  Oriental  monk  artists,  who 
apparently  did  not  possess  the  flexible  religious  scruples 

1  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  p.  166. 

2  Henry  III.'s  tomb,  who  died  in  1272,  and  was  buried  by  the  Knight 
Templars,  is  exquisitely  inlaid  with  gold  and  scarlet  mosaic  work. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


351 


of  their  lay  brethren,  fled  to  Italy,  and  were  readily 
received  by  the  Romish  church.  So  late  as  the  year  1066, 
an  abbot  of  Monte  Cassino,  for  the  construction  of  a  church, 
ordered  workmen  from  Lombardy  and  Amain",  but  for 
mosaic  decoration  employed  Byzantine  workmen.1  There 
are  reasonable  proofs  that  the  mosaic  art  was  in  use  early 
in  the  fifth  century  by  the  builders  of  Saint  Agatha,  at 
Ravenna  ;2  but  notwithstanding  that  the  primary  design 
of  this  kind  of  work  was  intended  thus  early  for  embellish- 
ment and  purposes  of  decoration,  mosaics  were  frequently 
made  to  subserve  symbolical  references.3  Thus,  for  in- 
stance, such  work  represented  the  chaotic  confusion  of  the 
Ptolemaic  system,  and  the  uncertainties  of  its  existence. 
In  many  instances,  the  mosaics  were  largely  composed  of 
triangles,  spheres,  and  circles,4 — the  double  triangles,  and, 
perhaps,  the  pentalpha,  surrounded  by  these  curiously- 
wrought  blocks,  were  typical  of  divinity.5 

Although  the  original  significance  of  the  mosaic  pave- 
ment and  blazing  star,  still  appurtenant  to  Masonic  lodges, 
has  been  altered,  enough  historical  data  may  be  gleaned 
from  the  foregoing  to  assert  that  this  checkered  inlaid 
work  was  typical  of  the  primordial  state  of  uncreated 
nature,  and  that  the  triangle  or  blazing  star  within  it 
symbolized  Deity  in  his  work  of  creation ;  or,  in  other 
words,  this  star  is  the  glory  radiated  from  the  creative 
Jehovah  (*),  the  letter  G.  In  the  star  emblem  used  by 
French  lodges  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  the  letter 
G  was  invariably  inserted,  and  was  declared  to  be  symbolic 
of  the  Divine  Architect.6 

1  Ciampini,  Vet.  Mon.,  Tomo  II.,  p.  104.  In  the  year  1178,  Sebastian,  doge 
of  Venice,  procured  an  architect  from  Constantinople  for  the  purpose,  it  is 
presumed,  of  repairing  the  old  church  of  St.  Marc's.  Milizia,  Memorie  degli 
Architetti,  Tomo  IV.,  p.  148. 

2  Hawkins,  History  of  the  Origin  of  Gothic  Architecture,  p.  33. 

3  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture  of  England,  p.  301. 

•   *  Ibid.,  loc.  cit.  s  Ibid.,  p.  302. 

6  L'Etoile  flamboyante  est  l'embl£me  du  G.  A.  de  l'U.,  qui  brille  d'une  lu- 


352  THE  EARL  Y  HISTOR  T  AND 

In  its  turn,  sculpture  was  doomed  to  follow  a  much 
more  rapid  downfall  and  expatriation  than  other  Grecian 
arts.  As  above  suggested,  the  early  Christians  having  been 
converted  from  the  ranks  of  Jews  and  Gnostics,  they 
retained  the  utmost  abhorrence  for  Pagan  images  designed 
to  perpetuate  some  fancied  divine  property  of  the  proto- 
type. After  the  lapse  of  time,  Roman  and  Greek  idola- 
ters proselyted  to  the  Christian  faith,  and  gradually  image 
worship  was  introduced  into  religious  culture. 

The  Iconoclastic  war  was  directly  levelled  against  sculp- 
ture and  statuary.  Leo  the  Isaurian  directed  at  plastic 
art  the  whole  power  of  the  Byzantine  government,  and 
was  so  far  successful  that,  under  his  son  Constantine,  by  a 
decree  of  a  council  called  to  consider  the  subject,  images 
were,  entirely  abolished  from  Oriental  churches.  As  already 
narrated,  the  synod  of  the  Latin  church  refused  to  accept 
this  edict,  and,  on  the  contrary,  emphatically  reaffirmed 
image  worship.  The  unremitting  persecutions  of  the 
Eastern  empire  compelled  large  numbers  of  Greek  artisans 
to  abandon  their  native  country,  and  ilee  for  safety  and 
sustenance  to  the  West,  where  they  were  kindly  received, 
both  by  the  Papal  authorities  and  the  Carlovingian  kings. 
That  the  Oriental  artificers  or  art  corporations  of  the  East, 
from  the  time  of  the  translation  of  the  imperial  capital  to 
Constantinople  until  centuries  afterwards,  were  possessed 
of  nearly  all  practical  knowledge  of  fine  arts,  is  apparently 
beyond  doubt. 

So  long  was  this  precedence  of  skill  and  artistic  repute 
retained,  that  many  persons  from  Western  Europe  had 
recourse  to  the  workshops  of  Antioch,  in  order  to  perfect 
themselves  in  the  preparation  of  brass  and  gold.  Archi- 
tects were  procured  from  Alexandria  for  Italy  even  as 

miere  qu'il  n'emprunte  que  de  lui  senl.  Regulateur  du  Macon  (Grade  de 
Compag.),  pp.  18,  19.  Didron,  Christian  Iconography,  p.  114,  gives  an  illus- 
tration of  the  Deity  sitting  upon  triangles,  surrounded  by  a  circle,  with  di- 
verging rays  of  light  emanating  from  a  centre. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


353 


late  as  the  thirteenth  century,  and  also  from  the  learned 
schools  of  Athens,  in  the  belief  that  they  were  possessed 
of  secret  knowledge  unknown  to  the  Latins.  Conse- 
quently, those  distant  countries  were  much  frequented  by 
the  eager  Franks,  Anglo-Saxons,  and  Normans.1 

Allusion  has  been  previously  made  to  the  fact  that 
architectural  art,  together  with  its  handmaids,  sculpture 
and  painting,  and  the  opus  graecanicum,  was  completely 
absorbed  by  the  dexterous  Byzantines,  and  through  them 
propagated  into  Asia  and  the  Latin  empire.  Notwith- 
standing that  Spain,  under  Musselman  dominion,  attained 
to  a  high  degree  of  academical  and  scholastic  knowledge, 
the  erudite  Arabs  of  that  country  were  forced  to  return  to 
Byzantium  in  search  of  profounder  learning.  Constant 
intercourse  existed  between  the  Oriental  empire  and  the 
Moslem  dynasties  of  Spain.2  Regular  embassies  were  sent 
by  the  Greek  emperors  to  the  Sassanide  kings,  in  order 
to  perpetuate  the  amicable  relations  established  between 
those  nations  so  widely  separated.3 

With  the  extensive  and  far-reachino;  ramifications  of 
the  Grecian  empire,  the  Byzantine  artificers  travelling  in 
India,  Persia,  Egypt,  or  Europe  were  brought  into  contact 
with  divers  forms  of  national  life,  and  necessarily  sub- 
jected to  the  adventitious  circumstances  attendant  upon  a 
sojourn  in  distant  lands.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
form  of  union  among  the  art  associations  in  Constanti- 
nople, it  is  evident  they  were  more  intimately  connected 

1  In  den  Werkstatten  der  Goldschmiede  und  Erzarbeitern  von  Antiochen 
lemten  auch  Abenlander  zierliche  verfertigen.  Findel,  GeschicMe  der  Frei- 
maurerei,  pp.  16,  17. 

2  En  este  tiempo  (tenth  century)  vinieron  a  Cordoba  enviados  del  rey  de  los 
griegos  al  rey  Abderahman.  Conde,  Historia  de  la  Domination  de  losArabesen 
Espana,  p.  218.  Greek  embassadors  direct  to  Cordova,  received  in  the  year 
853.    Ibid,,  p.  131. 

3  An  elegant  Grecian  fountain  was  ordered  from  Constantinople  by  the  Ara- 
bians, to  decorate  their  newly-built  city  of  Medina :  de  meravillosa  labor  que 
se  habia  trabejado  en  Constantina.    Conde,  op.  ciL,  p.  206. 


30* 


X 


354 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


during  their  continuance  in  foreign  countries0  At  all 
events,  it  is  a  rational  assumption  that  these  corporations 
maintained  the  integrity  and  general  freedom  accorded 
them  in  Byzantium,  and,  as  regularly  organized  bodies  of 
builders,  they  made  their  appearance  in  Europe.1 

A  careful  examination  and  comparison  of  the  Pagan 
ritualism  of  heathen  Rome  with  that  of  the  early  Christian 
church,  will  attest  the  close  identity  between  them.  It 
will  also  furnish  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  causes 
at  work  to  perpetuate  among  the  mediaeval  Freemasons, 
the  successors  of  Byzantine  operatives,  numerous  ritual- 
istic and  symbolical  references  undoubtedly  derived  from 
Eoman  idolatry.  "Whether  the  original  tenets  of  the 
profession  of  Christ  were  embodied  in  symbols  for  the 
purpose  of  concealing  the  faithful  from  the  persecutions 
of  unbelievers,  or  to  dist  inguish  them,  by  means  of  emblem- 
atic figures,  under  circumstances  of  jeopardy  and  danger, 
is  uncertain.  But  no  fact  of  ecclesiastical  history  can  be 
better  demonstrated,  than  that  the  professors  of  the  new 
religion  sought  to  harmonize  the  forms  of  Pagan  Rome 
with  the  developing  ceremonies  of  the  infant  church.2 

To  the  cross3  a  special  attribute  of  power  was  assigned, 
and  intrinsic  property  to  guard  against  the  assaults  of  evil 
demons,  to  those  who  wore  it  or  traced  it  in  the  air. 
After  Christianity  had  become  the  recognized  creed  of  the 
empire,  these  typical  allusions  to  heathen  deities,  which, 
previous  to  the  fourth  century,  had  invoked  especial  con- 
demnation and  horror,  were  suddenly  transformed  into 
emblems  suggestive  of  the  new  faith. 

1  Mueller,  Arcfweologie  der  Kunst,  p.  240 ;  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst, 
p.  479. 

2  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  p.  182. 

3  The  cross  was  used  at  a  very  early  age  as  a  symbol  of  Christ.  The  pecu- 
liar attributes  of  power  with  which  this  type  was  invested  arose  from  the 
superstitious  notion  that  wherever  the  cross  was,  there  Christ  stood :  "  Ubi 
crux  est  martyr  ibi."  For  further  virtues  of  the  cross,  see  Didron,  Christian 
Iconography,  p.  370,  et  seq. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


355 


In  whatever  manner  such  emblems  as  alluded  to  par- 
ticular Gentile  divinities  could  be  made  to  subserve  the 
true  doctrine,  they  were  quickly  interpreted  to  signify  for 
Christ  what  originally  referred  to  Pagan  gods.1  The  alle- 
gories of  our  Saviour  seem  to  have  furnished  the  means 
to  the  introduction  of  this  class  of  symbols ;  because, 
wherever  an  allusion  was  made  in  the  parables  to  any 
emblems  which  typified  heathen  deities,  they  became,  by 
an  abrupt  transition,  especial  objects  of  respect  and  ven- 
eration for  Christians.2  The  vine,  with  genii  sporting 
among  its  spreading  branches,  and  the  processes  by  which 
the  grape  is  converted  into  wine,  collectively  represented 
to  the  heathen  the  Bacchic  rite,  and  were,  by  the  first 
followers  of  Christ,  made  to  symbolize  laborers  in  the 
vineyard  of  the  new  faith,  or  perhaps  as  emblematic  of 
the  cup  of  wine  with  which  our  Saviour  symbolized  his 
blood.  Since  the  vine  of  Bacchus  was  employed  as  a  type 
of  wine,  for  the  same  reason  the  ear  of  corn,  dedicated  to 
the  Pagan  goddess  Ceres,  was  brought  into  a  symbolism 
of  that  bread  which  Christ  had  distributed  to  his  disciples 
at  the  last  supper.3 

Wherever  it  could  be  made  practicable,  and  without 
becoming  too  distasteful,  the  Christian  evangelists  trans- 
ferred, bodily,  into  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  new 
church,  large  portions  of  Pagan  symbols.  Thus  the  palm 
branch,  which,  among  the  Gentiles,  denoted  worldly  victo- 
ries, in  the  hands  of  proselytes  became  the  emblem  of  the 
triumph  of  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  was,  with  oft-recurring 
frequency,  made  to  pass  from  the  palsied  hands  of  heathen 
gods  into  those  of  a  saint  or  martyr.    Yenus's  dove 4  was 


1  The  Komans  accused  the  early  Christians  of  using  heathen  symbols. 
Creuzer,  Symbolik  und  Mythologie  der  alien  Voelker,  Bd.  IV.,  p.  763. 

2  Hope,  Essay  on  Architect.,  p.  180.    Vide  Milman,  Latin  Christianity,  passim. 

3  Hope,  op.  tit.,  p.  181. 

4  Abbeys  and  churches,  during  the  Middle  Ages,  were  erected  to  Saint  Co- 
lombe  (sainted  dove),  or  Holy  Ghost  thus  symbolized.    Didron,  Christian 


356 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


typified  as  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  Diana's  stag,  as  previously 
stated,  symbolized  the  Christian  soul  thirsting  for  the 
water  of  life.  Juno's  peacock,  under  the  name  of  phoenix, 
represented  the  resurrection,  and  with  this  significance 
frequently  occurred  in  mediaeval  architecture.1  One  of  the 
evangelists  was  endowed  with  Jupiter's  eagle,  and  another, 
gifted  with  Cybele's  lion.  Winged"  genii  and  cupids,  in 
the  Christian  artist's  hand,  became  angels  and  cherubs. 
Many  of  the  mythological  creations,  such  as  the  sphinx, 
supposed  by  the  heathens  to  be  possessed  of  supernatural 
powers  to  avert  impending  evil,  were  perpetuated  by  the 
enthusiastic  proselytes  for  similar  purposes. 

The  cross  itself  was  invested  with  attributes  of  irresisti- 
ble power,  at  a  very  early  age  of  the  church,  and  was  made 
to  subserve  such  superstitious  notions  in  the  erection  of 
sacred  edifices.  The  mediaeval  myth  of  the  sang  real,2  or 
holy  graal,  can  be  traced  to  this  symbolizing  tendency  of 
the  first  Christian  church.  The  allegorizing  bias  in  the 
Grecian  church  gradually  diminished  into  real  objects  of 
representation,  and  in  the  sixth  century  the  body  of  Christ 
on  the  cross  was  exhibited  in  houses  of  religious  worship. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  ensuing  century,  the  councils  of 
Constantinople  forbade  the  introduction  of  the  prototype  of 
the  actual  thing.3 

In  order  to  allay  the  wrath  of  the  zealous  Christians, 
which  undisguised  representation  would  create,  other  in- 
signia was  used  to  bring  prominent  features  of  the  new 
culture  before  the  eyes  of  the  faithful.  In  regular  proces- 
sion, our  Saviour  and  the  twelve  apostles  were  symbolized 


Iconography,  p.  439 ;  also,  Creuzer,  op.  cit.,  Bd.  IV.,  p.  363 ;  and  Westropp  and 
Wake,  Ancient  Symbol  Worship,  p.  70.  Vide  Dante,  Purgalorio,  c.  xxix,  Str. 
105,  and  Didron,  op.  cit,  p.  456,  etc. 

1  Luebke,  Geschichte  der  Piastik,  p.  272.  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  Architecture  of 
England,  chap,  ix.,  may  be  consulted  to  advantage  in  this  connection. 

2  Wilmar,  Literatur  Geschichte,  p.  127. 

3  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  p.  182. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


357 


by  twelve  lambs.  To  designate  the  meek  and  loving  Chris- 
tian, a  lamb  was  typically  used.1  A  thirteenth,  and  more 
exalted  than  his  associates,  whose  head  was  surmounted 
by  a  nimbus,2  and  sometimes  holding  a  cross,  symbolized 
Christ.3 

Allusion  has  been  hitherto  made  to  the  vesica  pisces 
suggested  by  the  combined  letters  forming  the  Greek  word 
IX0T2,4  and  also  to  what  extent  it  was  adopted  by  the 
Freemasons  for  builders'  marks.  Monograms  were  also 
adopted  by  the  early  Christians,  and  expressed  the  above 
mentioned  emblems  more  directly,  as,  for  instance,  the 
cross  encircled  with  a  ring  or  wreath.5  These  and  other 
symbols  continually  recur  in  the  more  ancient  churches 
erected  by  Byzantine  corporations  in  Italy.  In  one  of 
these  structures  at  Ravenna,  nearly  the  entire  class  of 
symbols,  as  borrowed  from  Pagan  rites,  is  delineated,  viz., 
the  vine  and  palm-tree  branch,  the  dove  of  Diana,  and  the 
paschal  lamb,  or  peacock.  Besides  these,  numerous  ani- 
mals consecrated  to  the  mystic  ceremonies  of  certain 
divinities,  such  as  the  deer  and  the  goose,  are  to  be  found 

1  Creuzer,  Symbolik  und  Mythologie  der  alten  Voelker,  Bd.  IV.,  p.  363. 

2  The  nimbus,  or  glory,  appears  to  have  been  used  to  symbolize  the  flashing 
forth  of  divine  light  from  the  head,  the  centre  of  creative  thought,  of  each 
deity.  In  the  Early  Ages,  illustrious  rulers,  as  Charlemagne,  were  invested 
with  it.    Didron,  Christian  Iconography,  pp.  23,  75. 

3  Didron,  op.  cit,  p.  367,  el  seq.  ' 

*  Perhaps  the  more  correct  opinion  may  be  that  the  fish  was  typified  by 
ancient  nations,  and  appropriated  by  the  Christians  with  other  Pagan  symbols. 
Didron,  Christian  Iconography,  p.  347,  gives  full  proofs  of  the  use  of  this  figure 
as  representing  our  Saviour.  Among  the  Syrians,  the  fish  was  an  emblem  of 
hate.  Creuzer,  Symbolik  und  Mythologie  der  alten  Voelker,  Bd.  II.,  p.  398 ; 
Lecky,  History  of  Morals  from  Augustus  to  Charlemagne,  Vol.  L,  p.  400. 
Among  the  Sindians  —  a  people  of  ancient  Sarmatia  —  as  many  fishes  were 
buried  with  the  deceased  as  he  had  killed  enemies.  Gyraldus,  De  Vario  Sepe- 
liendi  Ritu.,  p.  382.  Fish  surmounted  Irmensaul.  Lacroix,  Les  Moeurs  et 
Usages,  p.  415.  Also  symbolized  in  German  mythology.  Simrock,  Deutsche 
Mythologie,  pp.  326-7. 

6  Didron,  op.  cit.,  p.  391,  et  seq.  Hence,  vignette,  a  small  vine  encircling  the 
capitals  in  illuminated  mediaeval  manuscripts. 


358 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


on  the  walls  of  the  cathedral  constructed  in  the  above 
named  city  during  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries.1 

Christ  was  also  early  typified  by  a  lion,  which  was  one 
of  the  three  principal  symbols  of  our  Saviour,  and  was 
emblematical  of  the  resurrection.2  This  figure,  in  the 
hands  of  the  zealous  proselyte,  symbolized  the  soul's  im- 
mortality ;  and,  from  whatever  source  originally  derived, 
has  become  an  integral  portion  of  Masonic  symbolism,  and 
is  retained  in  this  significance. 

~Eo  sooner  had  the  Christian  religion  attained  to  a 
degree  of  strength  and  respectability  among  the  idolatrous 
Romans,  than  the  rising  sect  began  to  adulterate  its  primi- 
tive worship,  by  introducing  into  a  simple  ritualism  the 
cumbersome  ceremonials  and  ideas  of  the  Pagan  religion. 
Proselytes,  who  had  imbued  their  minds  from  youth  with 
long-established  rites  and  doctrines,  whose  faithful  practice 
had  caused  the  clear-voiced  trumpet  of  triumphant  Rome  to 
sound  throughout  the  universe,  naturally,  in  the  venerable 
capital,  retained  a  great  number  of  Pagan  customs  incident 
to  their  ancient  worship,  until  finally  the  favorite  heathen 
usages  of  the  great  metropolis  acquired  a  parallel  in  Chris- 
tianity. 

According  to  Pliny,3  the  Romans  were  accustomed  to 
consecrate  in  such  manner  the  ground  upon  which  a  sacred 
edifice  was  about  to  be  erected,  that  thenceforth,  for  all 
time,  the  soil  was  divested  of  and  withdrawn  from  the 
contamination  of  secular  pursuits.  This  custom  was  faith- 
fully imitated  by  the  Christians,4  when  the  pressure  of 
imperial  favor  had  widened  the  chasm  between  them  and 
the  Pagan  Romans,  who  still  clung  to  the  shadow  of  a 
glorious  past,  in  the  simple  hope  that  Jupiter  Tonans 
would,  by  a  flash  of  his  dread  lightning,  utterly  extermi- 
nate the  unbelievers.  When  the  Pagans  began  the  rite  of 
consecration,  the  place  and  people  were  sprinkled  with 


1  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  p.  183.  2  Didron,  op.  cit.,  p.  341,  et  seq. 
3  Epistol.  ad  Trajan.  4  Kennett,  Romae  Antiquae  Notitia,  p.  65. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY 


359 


water,  which  was  supposed  to  be  endowed  with  specific 
holy  properties.1  The  Romans  called  this  ceremony  the 
rite  of  lustration.  In  imitation  of  this  observance,  the 
Christians  also  attributed  a  sanctity  to  water  used  for 
similar  purposes.  This  ceremonial  had  descended,  to  the 
close  of  the  last  century,  equally  to  the  Freemasons  and 
Roman  church.  By  the  Gallic  craftsmen  this  rite  was 
used  for  the  purpose  of  lustration  or  purgation.2 

Among  the  idolatrous  Pagans  it  was  a  custom  to  light 
lamps  and  torches3  in  the  temples  of  their  gods,  often- 
times necessitated  on  account  of  the  gloom  of  confined 
space,  in  order  that  the  place  might  be  sufficiently  illumi- 
nated to  perfornr  sacrificial  rites.  In  the  same  manner, 
and  to  subserve  a  similar  purpose,  Christian  proselytes, 
even  in  those  churches  where  the  sun  reflected  bright  and 
clear,  established,  as  a  mark  of  excessive  devotion,  the 
practice  of  lighting  candles  around  the  tomb  of  a  sainted 
martyr,4  and  in  the  splendor  of  the  radiant  sunlight,  tapers 
were  borne  in  processional  ceremonies.  Pagan  priests 
lighted  the  fragrant  frankincense,  and  burned  sweet-smell- 
ing odors  in  honor  of  their' deities,  and  in  like  manner 
the  Christian  priesthood  testified  their  adoration  of  rap- 
idly increasing  saints. 

1  Quod  templo  dicabatur  ....  ingressi  milites,  etc. ;  aqua  e  fontibus  ara- 
nibusque  hausta  perluere.    Tacit,,  Hisloriar.,  Lib.  IV.,  cap.  53. 

2  In  the  Chamber  of  Eeflection,  where  the  candidate  was  left  to  his  own 
thoughts,  stood  a  basin  of  water :  un  vase  remplit  d'eau  claire.  Regulateur  du 
Maqon,  p.  13.  During  the  progress  of  the  initiation,  he  was  told  the  water 
typified  purgation  :  Vous  avez  6t4  purifie  par  l'eau.  Ibid.,  p.  26.  In  mediaeval 
times,  the  nuns  formed  a  circle  around  the  presiding  officer,  who  sprinkled 
them  with  holy  water.  Fosbroke,  British  Monachism,  p.  310.  If  Boccaccio 
may  be  accredited,  this  rite  of  purification  was  sadly  needed  by  the  conven- 
tual sisters ! 

3  Vide  Schauberg,  Symbolik  der  Freimaurerei,  Bd.  I.,  cap.  xvii. 

*  These  lights  were  evidently  used  as  symbols  of  deity,  and  substituted  for 
sacred  fires.  Ignis  enim,  suo  splendore,  calore,  activitate  et  expressum  est 
symbolum  Dei  et  divinitatis.  Gyraldus,  De  Vario  Sepeliendi  Ritu,  p.  399.  Vestal 
fires  also  of  especial  holiness.    Kennett,  Romae  Antiquae  Notitia,  p.  100. 


360 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


It  was  a  custom  among  idolatrous  Romans  afflicted  with 
certain  evils,  or  who  desired  peculiar  benefits,  to  visit  the 
shrine  of  their  gods,  and  promise,  upon  the  attainment  of 
vows,  to  consecrate  some  object  in  honor  of  the  divine 
donor.1  In  many  heathen  temples  these  votive  offerings 
were  hung  up  around  the  altars.  When  Christianity  ap- 
propriated other  Paganistic  usages  this  was  also  adopted, 
and  continued  in  force  through  the  Middle  Ages.  Our 
Saviour,  Virgin  Mary,  and  the  saints  were  merely  sub- 
stituted for  Jupiter,  Venus,  and  the  divinities  of  lesser 
notability,  in  order  to  captivate  the  wavering  mind  of  the 
vacillating  heathen. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  celebration  of  Christmas  is 
imitated  after  the  ancient  idolatrous  festival 2  consecrated 
to  the  goddess  Strenna,  accompanied  with  gifts  and  held 
at  the  entrance  of  the  winter  solstice.  The  presents  used 
on  such  occasions  have  served  as  a  token  of  Paganism  in 
the  French  name  —  etrennes.  The  Romans  had,  in  com- 
memoration of  the  ancient  times  of  Saturn,  when  all  men 
were  equal  and  the  gods  devoured  their  children,  a  fete, 
which  was  called  Saturnalia.  During  this  uproarious 
celebration  of  the  Golden  Age,  all  social  distinctions  were 
obliterated.3  In  like  manner,  the  carnival  instituted  by 
Christianity  was  based  upon  the  same  conception  of  a 
temporary  equality  among  all  men.  This  festival  has  per- 
petuated idolatrous  masks  and  the  licentious  revelries  of 
Pagan  Rome.  During  the  Lupercalia,  about  the  fifteenth 
of  February,  Roman  youths,  divested  of  clothing,  ran 


1  Votive  amulets,  expressive  of  the  phallic  idea,  were  numerous,  both  among 
the  ancient  Pagans  and  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Westropp  and  Wake,  An- 
cient Symbol  Worship,  p.  85,  and  Payne  Knight,  Worship  of  Priapus,  Pt.  II., 
passim. 

2  Policy,  no  doubt,  influenced  this  custom,  to  prevent  neophytes  relapsing 
into  Pagan  worship.  Creuzer,  Symbolik  und  Mythologie  der  alien  Voelker,  Bd. 
IV.,  p.  775. 

8  Kennett,  Romae  Antiquae  Notitia,  p.  117. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  361 


about  the  city  whipping  with  lashes  every  one  whom  they 
met.1    This  custom  survived  to  the  mediaeval  Flagellants. 

On  the  first  day  of  May,  the  return  of  spring  was  cele- 
brated by  the  Pagans  with  much  pomp  and  joyousness,  as 
a  renewal  of  the  forces  of  nature  and  reproduction.  A 
tall  pole,  hung  with  garlands,  was  erected,  and  around  it 
the  gleeful  youth  of  both  sexes  merrily  danced,  —  the 
Christians  propagated  this  usage,  and  preserved  the  may- 
pole, which  has  been  perpetuated  through  succeeding  cen- 
turies to  the  present  day  in  many  European  countries.2 
When  the  seasons  entered  into  the  summer  solstice,  Pagan 
Rome  commemorated  it  with  different  solemnities.  At 
this  period  their  year  began.3 

In  order  to  justify  the  festivities  of  that  day,  the  evan- 
gelical priesthood  simply  changed  the  object  of  the  fete 
into  a  celebration  of  Saint  John  the  Evangelist,  and  the 
fires  lighted  under  Pagan  dispensation  continued  to  burn 
with  undiminished  brilliancy  under  Christian  patronage. 
Vestal  virgins  of  ancient  Rome,  sworn  to  perpetuate  vir- 
ginity as  servants  of  certain  gods,  unquestionably  aided  in 
moulding  the  Christian  conventual  system.4  Not  only  were 
the  observances  of  the  idolatrous  Romans  followed  with 
servile  imitation,  but  the  ecclesiastics  of  the  new  faith 
actually  assumed  the  sacerdotal  robes  of  the  heathen 
priesthood.  The  tunic  of  the  priest,  the  lituus  of  the  augur, 
and  cap  of  the  flamen,  became  the  dalmatic,  the  mitre, 
the  staff  and  crosier  of  a  Christian  bishop.5 

1  lb  id.,  p.  114;  Westropp  and  Wake,  Ancient  Symbol  Worship,  p.  95. 

2  The  Teutonic  maypole  is  clearly  derived  from  the  Yggdrasil.  Simrock, 
Deutsche  Mythologie,  pp.  537,  539. 

3  This  period,  usually  designated  St.  John's  day,  completes  to  this  day  a 
half  Masonic  year. 

*  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  p.  187.  Vide  Ancient  Symbol  Worship,  cit.,  p. 
94,  for  conclusive  evidence  touching  this  proposition.  Also,  King,  The  Gnos- 
tics and  their  Remains,  pp.  71,  72. 

5  Draper,  History  of  the  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe,  p.  229,  says : 
"  Such  was  the  tendency  of  the  times  to  adulterate  Christianity  with  the  spirit 
31 


362 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


So  far  as  doctrine  is  concerned,  there  was  a  large  inter- 
polation of  polytheism  into  the  original  creed,  such,  at 
least,  as  constituted  the  guide  of  faith  for  the  first  Chris- 
tians, who  were  principally  Jews  and  Gentiles.  This  was 
introduced  under  the  form  of  immaterial  essence.  Saints 
and  saintesses  were  adored  as  possessed  of  some  especial 
potency,  which,  it  was  thought  by  their  devotees,  would  be 
manifested  upon  intercession.  Certain  phases  of  the  Roman 
dogma  were,  beyond  doubt,  modified  by  the  infusion  of 
mystical  notions  entertained  by  the  more  elevated  and 
erudite  of  Christian  proselytes.  The  crescent,  with  which 
the  Virgin  Mary  was  adorned,  descended,  with  its  repre- 
sentation of  fancied  powers,  directly  from  the  Grecian 
Diana  and  Isis  of  Egypt.1 

When  it  is  considered  that  the  Christian  church  bor- 
rowed so  largely  the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  Pagan  cul- 
ture, the  inference  is  direct  and  tenable  that  civil  or  semi- 
secular  institutions  existing  at  the  full  development  of  the 
new  faith,  under  the  smile  of  imperial  recognition,  naturally 
modified  their  organism  to  conform  to  the  example  of  the 
rising  sect ;  but  the  usages  and  customs,  with  necessary 
changes,  remained  as  before.  As  previously  urged,  the 
Byzantine  artificers  were  the  lineal  heirs  of  all  that  arose 
from  the  wreck  of  Grecian  or  Roman  art,  from  whatever 
sources  originally  derived.  The  fragmentary  relics  of 
Pagan  observances  which  have  descended  to  Masonic  ritual- 
ism were,  by  a  parity  of  reasoning,  in  the  possession  of  the 
builders  of  Byzantium  when  they  appeared  in  Western 
Europe. 

of  Paganism,  partly  to  conciliate  the  prejudice  of  worldly  converts,  partly  in 
the  hope  of  securing  its  more  rapid  spread."  Vide  Westropp  and  Wake, 
Ancient  Symbol  Worship,  p.  94 ;  King,  op.  cit.  p.  72.  For  description  of  the 
lituus,  see  Kennett,  Romae  Antiquae  Noiitia,  p.  213. 

1  Ancient  Symbol  Worship,  cit.,  p.  94.  Vide  Didron,  Christian  Iconography, 
pp.  86,  87,  Fig.  30,  31.  The  latter  was  a  symbol  among  the  Etruscans.  The 
sun  and  moon  frequently  appear  in  a  mystical  sense  during  the  Middle  Ages. 
Didron,  op.  cit.,  p.  89. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  363 


It  has  been  argued,1  with  much  force  and  apparent  truth, 
that  the  building  art  was,  in  times  of  remotest  antiquity, 
regarded  as  sacred,  and  existed  under  special  concession 
and  care  of  the  native  priesthood  where  it  was  practised  ; 
but  this  allegation  cannot  be  accepted  without  qualification. 
Many  of  the  most  important  edifices  of  ancient  Sicily  were 
constructed  with  the  aid  of  slaves.2  It  is  evident  that  the 
science  of  mathematics,  and  consequently  of  architecture, 
possessed  but  little  attraction  for  the  luxurious  Roman 
towards  the  dissolution  of  the  republic.3  Cicero4  adverted 
with  bitter  satire  to  the  geometrical  knowledge  of  Epi- 
curus, while  grave  philosophers,  in  the  last  days  of  their 
scholastic  exercises,  affected  to  ridicule  mathematics  as  a 
tissue  of  absurdities.5  Astrologers,  even  down  to  the 
time  of  St.  Augustine,6  were  distinguished  by  that  name, 
and  flocked  to  Rome  in  great  numbers ;  but  with  the 
changing  tide  of  architectural  requirements  demanded  by 
the  erection  and  adornment  of  a  new  city,  the  Roman 
emperors  carefully  distinguished  between  the  valuable 
artificer  at  Constantinople  and  the  meretricious  show  of 
the  impotent  magician.7 

By  a  rescript  of  Theodosius,  the  honorable  titles  of  specta- 
biles  and  clarissimi  were  conferred  on  professors  of  geometry. 
Diocletian  and  Maximian  declared  the  cultivation  of  mathe- 
matics to  be  an  object  of  public  concern.8  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  original  constitution  of  the  colleges  of 


1  Schauberg,  Symbolik  der  Freimaurerei,  Bd.  I.,  cap.  2. 

2  Tiraboschi,  Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana,  Tomo  I.,  p.  92.  "  Grandiosi 
e  manifici  edilici  .  .  .  .  di  molti  schiari  fatti  impiegati  a  segar  pietre." 

3  Fenn,  History  of  Mathematics,  p.  18. 

4  De  Finib.  Bon.  et  Mai.,  Lib.  I.,  g  7.  5  Fenn,  op.  ext.,  p.  18. 

6  Vide  Homily,  in  Psalm,  L.  lxi.,  where  it  is  a  question  of  a  mathematician 
or  astrologer  professing  the  faith,  and  with  doubts  touching  his  sincerity. 

7  Cod.  Theod.,Tit.  XVI.,  c.  7,  and  Ulpian,  apud  Collatio.  Leg.  Mosaicarum,Tit.  15. 

8  Artem  geometriae  discere  atque  exercere  publice  interest.  Especial  im- 
munities were  granted  geometricians  and  architects  by  Theodosius.  Cod. 
Theod,,  XIII.;  Tit.  IV.,  c.  3,  De  Excusat.  Artificium. 


364 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


builders,  organized  by  Numa  Pompilius1  at  an  early  period 
in  the  history  of  Rome,  and  likewise  preserved  in  a  healthy 
vitality  by  the  frequent  filiation  of  Greek  artists  arriving 
from  their  vanquished  country,  great  and  important  changes 
necessarily  occurred  upon  a  reorganization  of  these  corpo- 
rations, in  order  to  conform  to  the  prevailing  ecclesiastical 
spirit  rapidly  extending  throughout  the  Byzantine  empire. 
When  the  government  of  Rome  had  ceased  to  preserve  the 
appearance  of  a  republic,  many  forms  of  civil  administra- 
tion were  essentially  modified,  and  with  the  exception  of 
such  associations  as  claimed  an  undisputed  antiquity,  all 
colleges  were  remorselessly  opened  by  Julius  Caesar.2 

While  Augustus  flattered  the  effeminate  people  of  Rome 
with  curious  histrionic  performances,  produced  before  the 
delighted  rabble  in  a  multiplicity  of  languages,3  his  impe- 
rial power  dreaded  the  contact  of  close  corporations.  By 
a  royal  edict  he  dissolved  nearly  all  corporations  within 
the  city.4  Under  Domitian,  mention  is  made  of  a  college, 
evidently  derived  from  ancient  times,  and  of  one  newly 
instituted  to  Minerva?.5  At  a  later  period  these  guilds 
were  regarded  with  such  jealous  solicitude  that  provincial 
firemen  were  interdicted  from  corporate  union.6 

The  vital  existence  of  these  corporations  was  frequently 
jeopardized  by  the  fluctuating  tide  of  imperial  favor. 
What  Trajan  had  enjoined  and  crushed  out  beneath  the 


1  Livii,  Hist.  Rom.,  Lib.  I.,  cc.  43,  44. 

2  Cuncta  Collegia,  praeter  antiquitus  constituta,  distraxit.  Sueton.,  Vita 
Jul.  Caesar.,  cap.  42. 

3  Ibid.,  In  Vita  Octav.,  cap.  43. 

*  Collegia,  praeter  antiqua  et  legitima,  dissolvit.  Ibid.,  loc.  cil,  cap.  32.  Au- 
gustus was  evidently  compelled  to  dissociate  the  members  of  these  societies,  on 
account  of  a  well-grounded  apprehension  that  they  might  disturb  public  peace. 

5  Collegium  Fluvialium :  Minervae  cui  collegium  instituertt.  Sueton.,  Vita 
Domitian.,  cap.  4. 

6  Plinii,  EpiMol.,  Lib.  X.,  c.  43.  In  a  letter  to  Pliny,  Trajan  calls  his  atten- 
tion to  certain  assemblies  —  corpora  —  which  may  require  his  authoritative 
interference.    Ibid.,  Ep.,  cxviii. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


365 


grinding  force  of  governmental  power,  magnanimous  Alex- 
ander Severus  endeavored  to  resuscitate.  It  may  well  be  ac- 
cepted that  this  emperor,  who  declared  the  empire  consisted 
in  virtue  and  not  in  ornament,  would  be  influenced  by  the 
material  interests  of  his  dominions.  He  established  guilds 
of  all  the  mechanical  trades,1  and  placed  them  under  royal 
patronage.  In  the  celebrated  procession  made  by  Gallienus, 
up  the  Capitoline  hill  in  Rome,  the  colleges  or  corporations,2 
still  tolerated  by  personal  favor,  marched,  with  shields  and 
banners  of  the  temples,  between  the  sacerdotal  hierarchy 
and  the  simulated  Goths,  Franks,  and  barbarous  Sarma- 
tians.3 

Towards  the  close  of  the  third  century,  the  bannerets 
of  the  Roman  corporations,  or,  perhaps,  of  the  army 
sodalities,  were  carried  in  the  triumphal  march  of  Aure- 
lian,  in  commemoration  of  his  victory  over  Zenobia.4 
Early  in  the  ensuing  century,  Constantine  the  Great 
translated  the  capital  of  the  empire  to  Byzantium,  and 
with  it  the  demand  for  skilled  labor  naturally  increased. 
One  of  the  first  public  concessions  of  this  illustrious 
emperor  was  made  in  favor  of  a  body  of  architects,  whom 
he  declared  to  be  under  the  patronage  of  the  empire,  and,  in 
order  that  this  vocation  might  be  preserved  in  full  vigor,  a 
competent  salary  was  enacted  for  each  professional  architect.5 

In  the  year  337,  three  years  after  the  foregoing  edict,  a 
rescript  was  promulgated  by  Constantine,  defining  all  pro- 

1  Corpora  omnium  constituit  vinariorum,  lupinariorum,  caligariorum  et 
omnino  omnium  artium.    Lamprid.,  Vit.  Alex.  Sev.,  c.  32. 

2  Et  praeter  ea  quae  Collegiorum  erant,  dracones  et  signa  templorum  om- 
niumque  legionum  ibant.  Trebellii  Pollionis,  In  Vita  Gallien.  Duo.,  cap.  viii. 

3  Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 

4  Jam  vexilla  Collegiorum  atque  Castrorum.  Flav.  Vopic.,  Vita  Div.  Au- 
relian.,  cap.  34. 

5  Architectis  quamplurimis  opus  est:  sed  quia  non  sunt:  Quibus  ut  hoc 
gratum  sit,  tarn  ipsos  quam  eorum  parentes,  ab  his  quae  personis  iniungi 
solent  volumus  esse  immunes:  ipsisque  qui  discent  solarium  competens  statui. 
XIII.,  Cod.  Tkeod. ;  Tit.  IV.,  c.  1.   De  Excusat.  Artific. 

31  * 


366 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


fessors  of  mechanical  arts  who  should  receive  an  entire 
immunity  from  civil  exactions,  wheresoever  these  corpora- 
tions might  be  dispersed.1  Succeeding  decrees  maintained 
the  integrity .  of  associations  of  architects,  geometricians, 
stonecutters,  and  carpenters,2  and  it  was  expressly  declared, 
in  the  year  364,  that  corporate  privileges  conceded  them 
by  the  earlier  government  of  the  Eternal  City  should  remain 
intact  in  the  Byzantine  empire.3  Therefore,  these  guilds 
of  builders,  by  imperial  recognition,  so  early  as  the  reign  of 
Constantine,  were  established  on  a  solid  basis  in  Byzantium. 

In  the  time  of  Theodosius,  the  immunities  of  corpora- 
tions of  builders,  legalized  by  royal  rescripts  of  his  prede- 
cessors, were  reaffirmed  when  the  code  was  published  in 
the  year  438. 4  In  the  Western  empire,  the  digested  laws 
of  Theodosius  were  more  frequently  used  by  the  invading 
Northmen  and  degraded  native,  especially  of  Italy,  than 
the  codes  of  earlier  or  subsequent  emperors.5  Theoderich 
the  Goth,  almost  contemporaneous  with  the  Byzantine 
lawgiver,  by  an  edict,  ordered  that  the  Roman  law  should 
be  equally  binding  upon  the  Goth  and  conquered  Italians.6 

The  architectural  and  building  corporations  of  the  East- 
ern empire  preserved,  by  virtue  of  governmental  authority, 
a  well  defined  position  in  the  Oriental  body  politic ;  but 
whatever  may  have  been  the  legends  and  traditions  of 
their  ancient  fraternities,  they  were,  by  absolute  necessity, 
altered,  in  order  to  harmonize  with  the  ecclesiastical 

1  Artifices  artium,  per  singulas  Civitates,  morantes,  ab  universis  muneribus 
vacare  praecipimus.    Ibid.,  loc.  cit.,  c.  2. 

2  Mechanicos  et  geometras,  et  architectos ;  itaque  immunitatibus  gaudeant, 
etc.    I  bid.,  loc.  cit.,  c.  3. 

3  Ea  privilegia,  quibus  pro  reverentia  Urbis  aeternae,  varia  corpora  homi- 
num  vel  confirmata  esse  arbitrio,  etc. :  vel,  si  in  aliquo  parte  titubaverint, 
restituta.    XIV.,  Cod.  Theod. ;  Tit.  II.,  c.  1,  Be  Privilegiis  Corporatorum. 

4  Ferriere,  Hisloire  du  Droit  Romain,  p.  239. 

6  In  illis  (provinciis  Occidentis)  quidera  juris  Romani  usus  superfuit,  at  non 
Justinianei,  verum  Theodosiani,  etc.  Heineccins,  Historia  Juris  Chilis  Ro- 
mani, Lib.  I.,  p.  399. 

6  Savigny,  Geschichte  des  Romischen  Rechts,  Bd.  II.,  p.  173. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  367 


policy  of  that  authority  which  had  permitted  them  to 
reorganize  on  the  foundation  of  venerable  sodalities. 
That  this  was  required  can  admit  of  little  doubt,  espe- 
cially when  it  is  considered  that  already,  under  Constan- 
tine  the  Great,  severe  restrictions  began  to  be  placed  upon 
a  free  celebration  of  Pagan  rites  and  temple  sacrifices.1 
If  an  unsatisfied  doubt  might  suggest  itself  touching  such 
modification  of  heathen  legends  and  culture  descended  to 
the  Byzantine  guilds,  the  example  set  by  the  early  Chris- 
tian church,  in  appropriating  the  symbols  and  ritualism 
of  certain  divinities,  and  rigidly  discarding  the  material 
essence  of  others,  would  of  itself  furnish  a  valid  reason  to 
assume  that,  although  the  divine  patronage  of  Pagan  gods 
and  ceremonials,  involving  the  recognition  of  a  Jupiter, 
Minerva,  Apollo,  or  Adonis,  were  relentlessly  destroyed,  a 
complete  change  of  objective  point  and  direct  allusion  sat- 
isfied the  Christian  legislator  and  zealous  evangelist. 

It  may  also  well  be  supposed  that  no  association  of 
builders,  still  clinging  to  the  mystical  rites  of  Pagan 
worship,  whose  initiation  was  a  perpetual  lesson  to  the 
neophyte  of  the  transcendent  powers  of  a  heathen  deity, 
would  be  permitted  by  the  new  sect  to  pollute,  with 
profane  hands,  the  sacred  material  used  in  the  construc- 
tion of  edifices  for  the  religion  of  Christ.  If,  therefore, 
these  corporations  were  to  maintain  an  existence  recog- 
nized by  public  law,  it  became  necessary  that  their  organic 
frame  should  be  remodelled  to  conform  to  the  essential 
principles  of  the  Christian  faith.  Consequently,  when 
traditions,  descended  from  sources  identical  with  a  religion 
expanding  and  developing  under  royal  favor,  presented 
themselves  in  the  reconstruction  of  ancient  Roman  cor- 
porations, the  Byzantine  builders  naturally  embodied  these 
conceptions  as  substitutes  for  heathen  legends.  Jewish 
rites  and  ceremonials,  combined  with  traditional  lore, 
largely  aided  in  moulding  the  architectural  guilds  of 
Byzantium  into  a  harmony  with  Christian  notions. 

1  XV  I.,  Cod.  Theod.;  Tit.  X.,  De  Paganw,  Sacrificiis  et  Templis. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Jewish  Influence  in  Remodelling  Eastern  Colleges — Israelitish 
Scholars  and  Mathematicians  —  Furore  for  Ancient  Rites  of 
the  Hebrews  —  Roman  Emperors  Borrow  from  Mosaic  Legis- 
lation—  King  Solomon's  Temple  —  Legends  of  the  Jews  Sub- 
stituted in  Byzantine  Corporations  for  Pagan  Traditions  — 
Merged  into  Gothic  Sodalities  —  Marvellous  Scientific  and 
Mental  Development  of  the  Lombards  —  Papal  Privileges  to 
the  Freemasons  —  Political  Troubles  Drive  Skilled  Archi- 
tects to  Italy —  Received  by,  and  Affiliate  with,  their  Colle- 
giate Brethren  —  Junction  of  Byzantine  Building  Corporations 
with  Gothic  Guilds. 

FTER  the  destruction  of  the  Israelitish  nation- 
ality by  the  legions  of  Rome,  the  Jews  were 
widely  scattered  throughout  Persia,  Mesopota- 
mia, and  other  portions  of  the  Roman  empire, 
where  they  founded  academies  and  institutions  of  learn- 
ing.1 In  whatever  provinces  the  Jews  settled,  they  imme- 
diately became  famous  as  profoundly  learned  mathemati- 
cians, astronomers,  and  geometricians.  The  Spanish  Moors 
were  greatly  indebted  to  their  Jewish  subjects  for  an 
academy,  instituted  by  rabbis  from  the  East.  The  celebrity 
of  this  scholastic  institution  extended  so  far,  that  many 
scholars  were  attracted  to  it  from  other  cities  of  Spain  and 
elsewhere.2  History  has  preserved  the  names  of  several 
distinguished  Israelites  who  wrote  learned  treatises  on 
geometry.3    Although  the  Jews  of  Western  Europe,  at  a 


1  Depping,  Die  Juden  im  Mittelalter,  p.  64. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  64,  66.  3  Ibid.,  pp.  73-81. 

368 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  369 


later  period,  were  treated  with  great  severity  under 
Charlemagne,  their  condition  was  a  satisfactory  one.1 
He  commissioned  a  Jew  to  visit  the  East,  on  account  of 
his  vast  Oriental  learning  ;  another  Jew  brought  for  him, 
by  sea,  many  costly  fabrics,  which  the  emperor  highly 
prized.2 

It  is  uncertain  at  what  time  this  people  arrived  in 
Northern  Europe,3  but  it  may  be  gathered  from  the  edicts 
of  the  earlier  Gallic  kings  that  the  Jews  were  regularly 
domiciled  in  the  empire,  and  carried  on  mercantile  trade4 
as  early  as  the  sixth  century.  In  Alexandria  this  race  was 
constantly  brought  into  contact  with  philosophers  and 
sophists  of  varied  schools,  and  borrowed  largely  from  Greek 
philosophy.  Many  rabbis  enumerated  over  twenty  thou- 
sand scholars,  to  whom  nothing  but  Judaistic  theology  was 
taught. 

Learned  Jews  ultimately  concluded  that  all  the  lore  of 
their  fathers  was  not  transmitted  in  writing  by  Moses,  but 
that  much  of  it  had  been  perpetuated  by  the  Jewish  law- 
giver in  an  oral  form.  These  traditions  were  recorded  in 
books  with  interpretations  of  erudite  Jews.  Rabbi  Raf- 
Asch,  in  his  compilations  of  these  cabalistic  legends,  laid  the 
foundation  of  a  polemical  spirit  which  subsequently  served 
as  a  pretext  for  persecution  by  the  Christians.5  Until  the 
dissolution  of  the  Western  empire,  the  Israelites  were  in  an 
advantageous  social  or  civil  condition,  and  their  religion 
respected.6    They  were  apparently  numerously  domiciled  in 

1  They  were  certainly  allowed  to  exercise  civil  rights,  and  evidently  pos- 
sessed much  influence  in  the  Carlo vingian  dominions.  Vide  Baluz.,  Capitul. 
Reg.  Franc,  Tome  I.,  pp.  173,  219,  453. 

2  Under  the  ban  in  Venice  in  the  tenth  century.  Depping,  Hisloire  du 
Commerce,  Tome  II.,  p.  231. 

3  Heinecci,  Antiquitates  Germanicae,  Tome  II.,  p.  382. 

4  A  decree  of  Charlemagne  forbid  sacerdotal  vessels  being  sold  to  merchant 
Jews.    Baluz.,  Capit.  Reg.  Franc,  Capit.  V. ;  Carol.  Mag.,  cap.  5. 

5  Depping,  Die  Juden  im  Mittelalter,  p.  10,  el  seq. 

6  Ibid.,  p.  30. 


370 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


Rome  during  the  age  of  Julius  Caesar,  whose  untimely 
death  was  sincerely  lamented  by  this  people  ;l  and  also 
under  Augustus,  the  Jews  practised  in  the  Roman  capi- 
tal their  ancient  cumbersome  rites.2  Their  customs  and 
creed  influenced  very  largely  the  residents  and  citizens  of 
the  great  metropolis.3  On  account  of  the  frequent  quarrels 
between  the  followers  of  Christ  and  rigid  adherents  to 
the  Mosaic  law,  the  Jews  were  expelled  from  Rome  by 
Claudius,  only  to  return.4 

In  the  time  of  Saint  Paul,  many  Jewish  synagogues 
existed  in  Greece,  and  a  large  population  of  Jews  seems  to 
have  been  scattered  throughout  that  portion  of  the  empire.5 
St.  Jerome  candidly  avowed  his  obligations  to  this  people, 
who  taught  him  the  Hebrew  language.6  Notwithstanding 
the  inhabitants  of  Judea,  in  the  times  of  Christianity,  were 
not  permitted  to  assume  the  robes  of  public  office,  they 
were  allowed  full  judicial  power  under  private  law.  The 
Mosaic  digests  constituted  the  invariable  rule  of  right  for 
the  nations  of  Palestine.  This  concession  was  not,  how- 
ever, uniformly  tolerated  in  other  provinces  of  the  empire. 

1  Praecipueque  Judaei,  qui  etiam  notibus  continuis  bustura  frequentarunt. 
Suetonius,  Vita  Jul.  Cces.,  cap.  84. 

2  Sueton.,  Vita  August,  cap.  76.  Tiberius  waged  an  uncompromising  war- 
fare against  Egyptian  and  Jewish  rites,  with  fire  and  perpetual  expulsion  from 
Eome.  Ibid.,  In  viL  Tiber.,  cap.  36.  Vide  Josephus,  Antiqui.  Judae.,  Lib. 
XVIII.,  c.  5,  and  Gibbon,  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
Vol.  IV.,  p.  30. 

3  Leckv,  History  of  European  Morals  from  Augustus  to  Charlemagne,  Vol.  I., 
pp.  248,  405.  During  this  and  subsequent  times,  the  Jews  were  recognized  by 
the  Christians  themselves  as  superior  exorcists.  Ibid.  This  potency  was  sup- 
posed to  consist  in  the  use  of  the  name  of  Jehovah.  They  were  apparently 
classed  as  mathematici,  and  were  under  strict  surveillance.  Collatio  Mosaic- 
arum  et  Romanarum  Legum,  Tit.  XV.,  De  Mathematicis.  These  exorcists  were 
frequently  expelled  the  city.  Suet.,  August,  cap.  94 ;  Ibid.,  In  vit  Tiber.,  ut 
supra.  One  of  them  prophesied  the  accession  of  Adrian  to  the  royal  purple. 
Spartianus,  Vit.  Adrian,  cap.  2. 

4  Sueton.,  Vit.  Claud.,  cap.  25. 

6  Draper,  Intellec.  Develop.  of  Europe,  p.  203,  et  seq. 
6  Depping,  op.  cit,  pp.  26-30. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


371 


After  the  formal  declaration  that  Christianity  should 
thenceforth  be  the  religion  of  Rome,  the  emperors  bor- 
rowed largely  from  the  Books  of  Moses,  for  the  purpose  of 
incorporating  the  divinely  instituted  principles  of  this  wise 
legislator  in  the  Roman  codes.1 

During  the  reign  of  Theodosius  II.,  a  compilation,  or 
rather  collation,  of  the  Roman  and  Mosaic  laws  was  drawn 
up  and  published,  evidently  by  the  Jews,  in  order  to  show 
how  largely  Judaic  law  furnished  material  for  the  collec- 
tions of  the  imperial  Pandects.2  The  author  of  this  digest  is 
unknown,  but  has  been  attributed  to  Rufinus.3  It  is  cited 
as  Mosaicarum  et  Eomanarum  legum  collatio*  and  during  the 
Middle  Ages  attained  to  considerable  repute  under  the 
name  of  Lex  Dei  vel  Pariator  legum  Mosaicarum  et  Roman- 
arum.5 

Under  the  later  Roman  emperors  the  social  and  municipal 
condition  of  the  Jews  was  expressly  recognized  by  equitable 
laws.6  From  the  imperial  guarantee  of  Jewish  rights  and 
privileges,  conceded  by  Constantine  the  Great  in  the  year 
330,7  and  successively  reaffirmed  by  ensuing  rulers,  it  may 
be  gathered  that  numerous  synagogues  were  established  at 
that  period  in  Constantinople,  and  preserved  a  vigorous 
existence  there  under  the  sanction  of  the  several  royal 
rescripts  down  to  the  fifth  century.8 

It  will,  therefore,  sufficiently  appear  that  Judaistic  in- 

1  GothofretL,  Proleg.  Cod.  Theodos.,  p.  cxc. ;  Schweppe,  Rbmiwhe  Rechtsge- 
schichte,  p.  308. 

2  Mackeldey,  Romische  Recht,  Bd.  I.,  p.  78. 

3  Heinecci,  Historia  Juris  Civilis  Romani,  Lib.  I.,  p.  337.  The  learned  his- 
torian of  the  Roman  law  dissipates  this  obscure  suggestion  with  a  breath. 

4  This  spiritless  digest  is  arranged  in  a  tripartite  form.  The  Mosaic  propo- 
sition leads  the  text,  with  analogous  decisions  of  Paulus  and  Ulpian  subjoined. 

5  Mackeldey,  op.  cit,  p.  78. 

6  Heinecci,  op.  cit,  Lib.  I.,  p.  363. 

7  ad.  Theod.,  XVI. ;  Tit.  VIII.,  Be  Judaeis,  et  seq. 

8  Gothofred.,  Cvrnmenlar.,  in  Cod.  Theod.,  cap.  ii.  A  large  portion  of  the 
Theodosian  code  is  devoted  to  establishing  a  legal  status  for  the  Jews,  and  is 
not  the  least  interesting  of  the  imperial  rescripts. 


372 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


fluence,  both  as  regards  the  vitality  of  its  doctrines,  the 
concessions  of  legislation,  and  the  wide  extent  of  citizen- 
ship in  foreign  lands,  around  the  Mediterranean  Sea  and 
Byzantium,  vastly  contributed  to  mould  into  shape  many 
phases  of  social  life,  ecclesiastical  and  lay,  which  were 
rapidly  imitating  the  Christian  church  in  assuming  such 
form  as  appeared  most  politic  and  consistent  with  the  new 
order  of  things. 

Jewish  learning  and  traditions  were  undoubtedly  known 
to  the  Grecian  architects  of  Constantinople.  Mathematical 
knowledge,  for  which  the  Jews  at  an  early  period  of  that 
era  were  justly  celebrated,  was  necessarily  much  sought 
after  by  the  Byzantine  builders,  and  the  intercourse  which 
the  possession  of  a  highly  prized  science  opened  between 
these  nationalities  and  denizens  of  the  Roman  capital,  also 
furnished  the  opportunity  for  an  acquaintance  with  the 
traditional  lore  of  the  Israelites. 

Among  the  most  important  of  these  legends  was  that  of 
the  temple  builder,  whose  custody  of  the  name  of  Jehovah 
aided  in  constructing  the  Solomonian  edifice  at  Jerusa- 
lem.1 At  a -time  when  the  ritualism  of  the  new  church 
was  being  rapidly  Paganized,  little  surprise  will  be  awa- 
kened that  the  Byzantine  corporations,  in  deference  to  the 
prevailing  tendencies  of  a  religion  patronized  by  the  pon- 
derous favor  of  a  great  empire,  modified  their  ceremonials 
to  conform  to  the  Judaizing  spirit  of  the  age. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  early  Christians  entertained 
a  profound  veneration  for  Mosaic  rites,2  and  a  furore 
for  the  cumbersome  solemnities  of  Jewish  observances 
spread  with  startling  rapidity,  to  such  extent  that  Juvenal 


1  Closely  allied  with  the  cabalistic  Gematria,  in  which  the  secret  of  archi- 
tectural science  was  supposed  to  lie.  Ffeiffer,  Critica  Sacra  de  Sacri.  (Jodie., 
cap.  vii. 

2  Vide  Draper,  Hist,  of  the  Tntellec.  Develop,  of  Europe,  chap,  ix.,  for  succinct 
and  comprehensive  statement  of  the  Judaizing  proclivities  of  the  first  Chris- 
tains.    Also,  Baumgarten-Crusius,  Dogmengeschichte,  pp.  126,  217. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


373 


satirized  them.  The  Empress  Poppae,  it  is  said,  became 
a  convert  to  Israelitish  customs.1  The  building  of  King 
Solomon's  temple  at  Jerusalem  was  deeply  rooted  in  the 
minds  of  Jewish  exiles.  Maimonides,  a  distinguished 
sectarian  of  this  people,  early  in  the  Middle  Ages,  wrote 
a  detailed  treatise  of  this  edifice,  and  Perrault  attempted 
to  rebuild  it  from  the  description  of  the  rabbi.2  This 
celebrated  structure  seems  to  have  been  to  the  Jew  what 
the  Kebla  was  to  the  Arab.  So  far  was  this  notion  carried 
among  the  Palestine  refugees,  that  David  Kimichi  declared 
the  whole  world  divisible  into  six  parts,  and  that  Jerusa- 
lem was  situated  exactly  in  the  centre  of  the  universe.3 

The  conversion  of  Rome  to  Christianity  gave  a  new 
impetus  to  the  study  of  Judaic  writings,  and  to  the  exam- 
ination of  their  doctrines.4  Amid  the  active  pressure 
of  such  vital  forces,  it  was  impossible  that  a  full  knowl- 
edge of  Israelitish  traditions  and  legendary  lore  should 
not  be  made  accessible  to  the  artificers  of  Byzantium,  and 
quickly  assimilated  by  them.  So  thoroughly  imbued  were 
the  Greek  builders  with  the  Judaistic  element  which  sur- 
rounded them  in  Constantinople,  that  it  was  largely  in- 
fused by  these  craftsmen  into  the  formularies  of  Gothic 
guilds  existing  in  Northern  Italy  at  the  time  of  their 
arrival  in  the  fifth  century. 

It  has  been  stated  already  that  the  earliest  use  of  marks 
by  architects  in  Europe,  is  traceable  to  the  Eastern  corpo- 
rations, and  through  them  to  the  ancient  Syrian  and  Jewish 
builders,  and  that  these  proprietary  tokens,  at  a  subsequent 

1  Lecky,  Hist,  of  Morals  from  Augustus  to  Charlemagne,  Vol.  I.,  p.  410. 

2  Depping,  Die  Juden  im  Mittelalter,  p.  81. 

3  Commentar.  in  Psalm  87.  Est  Judea  terrarum  fere  media.  Sabellicua,: 
Ennead.,  VII.,  Lib.  I.,  in  Leopardi,  Saggio  Sopra  gli  Errori  popolari  degli  An- 
tichi,  p.  208.  It  may  be  added  here  that  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  was  acces- 
sible to  both  Jews  and  Gentiles.    Selden,  De  Synedriis  Veter.  Ebraeor.,  p.  157. 

*  How  far  the  Mosaic  doctrines  affected  the  imperial  rescripts  may  be  gath- 
ered from  the  learned  treatise  of  Gothofred,  prefixed  to  his  edition  of  Theo- 
dosius.    Vide  Proleg.  Cod.  Theod.,  cap.  iii. 
32 


374 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


period  of  the  Middle  Ages,  constituted  an  important  por- 
tion of  lodge  ritual  among  operative  Masons.  In  addition 
to  this,  the  more  prominent  traditions  of  the  Hellenistic 
Jews  —  such,  for  instance,  as  the  legend  of  Hiram  the 
temple  builder,  and  the  efficacy  of  Jehovah's  true  name  or 
omnific  word,  together  with  points  of  lesser  significance 
—  were  transmitted  by  Byzantine  workmen  to  Teutonic 
sodalities.  At  what  period  of  time  the  merging  of  this 
Jewish  legendary  element  into  Germanic  guilds  occurred, 
cannot  be  fixed  with  exactness,  but  it  is  a  rational  assump- 
tion that  such  fusion  began  near  the  epoch  when  Theode- 
rich  the  Goth  ordered  Greek  builders  from  the  East,  and 
was,  perhaps,  not  fully  perfected  for  some  centuries  after. 

Whether  the  continuance  of  Gothic  dominion  in  Italy 
was  of  sufficient  duration  for  a  free  interchange  of  ritual- 
istic ceremonials  between  ancient  Germanic  guilds  and 
Grecian  associations,  cannot  be  definitely  stated.  The 
junction  of  the  two  systems  may  have  had  its  inception 
under  the  Ostrogoths,  but  was  more  nearly  completed  dur- 
ing Longobardic  rule  in  Northern  Italy.  Scarcely  had  two 
centuries  elapsed  before  the  Lombards  had  placed  Europe 
under  great  obligations  for  many  new  developments  in 
trade,  finance,  and  legislation.  The  whole  of  that  com- 
plex and  ingenious  system  of  exchange,  banking,  insur- 
ance,1 book-keeping,  commercial  and  marine  law,  either 
originated  or  was  developed  into  practical  utility  by  this 
people.  The  business  of  public  loans  was  also  invented, 
and  has  since  preserved  a  healthy  existence.2 

When  the  edicts  of  Rotharis  and  Liutiprand,  Longo- 
bardic kings,  were  promulged,  —  the  first  in  the  year  643 
and  the  latter  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighth  century,3  — 

1  The  essential  principle  of  insurance  was  practised  by  the  ancient  North- 
men, and  seems  to  have  been  an  integral  element  in  the  original  Icelandic 
Constitution.    Dahlmann,  Geschibhte  von  Dannemark,  Bd.  II. 

2  Hope,  Essay  on  Architecture,  p.  224. 

8  In  the  year  729.    Merkel,  Die  Geschichte  des  Longobardenrechts,  p.  18. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


375 


the  inhabitants  of  Como  had  already  attained  to  so  high  a 
degree  of  skill  as  to  be  designated  magistri  comacini,  or 
masters  of  Como.1  Minute  and  specific  regulations  were 
enacted  for  the  wages  which  these  masons  and  architects 
should  receive  for  their  labors.2 

It  is  clear  that  the  Longobardi,  without  foreign  instruc- 
tion, could  never  have  mastered  the  details  of  building  art 
within  the  period  of  one  and  a  half  centuries,  when  it  is  con- 
sidered that  the  initial  point  was  barbarism.  As  already 
stated  in  this  work,  nearly  the  entire  knowledge  of  fine 
arts  at  this  epoch,  in  Europe,  was  under  the  control  of  the 
church,  who  obtained  it  from  Byzantium.  Greek  archi- 
tectural corporations,  possessed  of  the  exclusive  details  of 
building  churches,  under  ecclesiastical  sanction,  communi- 
cated their  art  to  the  people  of  Northern  Italy,  where,  by 
the  express  decree  of  Theoderich,  they  were  permitted  to 
preserve  their  right  of  association  and  immunities  in 
accordance  with  the  laws  of  the  Eastern  empire,  or  to  live 
by  such  customs  as  they  might  elect.3 

The  secret  arts  thus  obtained  by  the  Teutonic  races  were 
perpetuated  in  fraternities  or  guilds,  whose  existence 
ascends  to  the  oldest  forms  of  Germanic  government. 
"Whenever  the  Christian  missionaries  were  sent  from 
Eome  or  elsewhere  to  teach  the  faith  to  the  rude  and 
uncultured  natives  of  Germany,  they  brought  their  build- 
ers with  them  from  Italy,  and  exercised  a  general  super- 
vision over  the  churches  which  their  converts  raised.4  If 
these  corporations  of  builders,  thus  fraternizing  with  the 
secret  societies  of  Europe,  existed  at  all,  they  must,  in 

1  Edictum  Rotharis  Reg.,  cap.  cxliii. —  iv.,  and  Edictum  Luitprandi  Regis,  cap. 
clvii.,  et  seq.,  Memorator.  de  Mercedes  Comacinorum.  This  word  master  — 
magister  —  is  an  evident  perpetuation  of  the  cumbersome  imperial  offices  of 
Byzantium.    Vide  VI.,  Cod.  Theod.,  Tit.  VII.-IX. 

2  Each  master  should  receive  a  certain  quantity  of  corn,  ten  pounds  of 
lard,  an  urn  of  wine,  a  fixed  quantity  of  vegetables  and  salt :  Segale,  lardo 
libras  decern,  vino  urna  una,  etc.    Be  Merced.  Comae,  loc.  ext.,  cap.  clviii. 

3  Heinecci,  Antiquit.  Germanicae,  Tome  I.,  p.  346. 

4  Hope,  Historical  Essay  of  Architecture,  p.  214. 


376 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


an  age  which  acknowledged  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
supremacy  of  the  Pope,  preserve  their  integrity  under 
papal  control.1  Whether  sacerdotal  sanction  was  expressed 
in  the  form  of  charters,2  or  hulls  conceding  these  art- 
guilds  an  exemption  from  local  regulation  in  the  countries 
of  Northern  Europe,  which  is  probable,3  or  whether  it  was 
universally  agreed  that  they  were  under  the  patronage  of 
the  Pope,  and,  as  such,  absolved  from  territorial  restric- 
tions, is  uncertain.  At  all  events,  no  charters  of  the  kind 
adverted  to  have  descended  with  traditions  of  the  craft. 
Under  such  special  protection  of  the  pontiff,  the  Romans 
themselves  joined  these  Masonic  associations  in  great 
numbers,  especially  in  cases  where  they  were  destined  to 
accompany  into  unexplored  regions  of  the  North  such 
missionaries  as  were  deputed  by  their  chief. 

The  intimate  relations,  both  as  to  trade  and  industry,  ex- 
isting between  Constantinople  and  the  cities  of  Lombardy, 
brought,  as  we  have  hitherto  narrated,  large  bodies  of 
Greek  artists  into  Italy,  and  these,  together  with  the 
Byzantine  artificers  who  had  fled  to  escape  the  fury  of  the 
iconoclastic  war,  were  taken  into  the  lodges  and  affiliated 
with  these  new  Masonic  corporations.4    Frequent  conver- 

1  1  bid.,  p.  231,  and  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  p.  425. 

2  Archozologia,  Vol.  IX.,  pp.  114,  120.  According  to  Wilda,  Das  Gilden 
Wesen  im  Mittelalter,  p.  96,  the  earliest  record  of  royal  or  statutory  recog- 
nition of  any  guild  was  merely  confirmatory  of  existing  usages  and  customs. 
No  charter  was  contemplated  at  the  organization  of  these  associations,  which, 
as  we  shall  presently  see,  are  coeval  with  the  Teutonic  constitution.  Vide 
Toulman  Smith,  English  Guilds,  Introduction,  pertot. 

3  It  was  barely  possible  for  these  early  Masonic  corporations  to  escape  the 
necessity  of  presenting  themselves  with  an  authority  superior  to  local  juris- 
dictions. In  many  countries  of  Europe,  numerous  restrictions  were  placed 
about  forest  timber,  and  none  could  be  felled  without  a  special  permit  from 
proper  officers,  —  a  privilege  conceded  with  extreme  caution.  Each  piece 
must  also  be  marked  with  an  official  brand.  Maurer,  Geschichte  der  Marken- 
verfassung,  pp.  129,  132;  Pardessus,  U  Organisation  Judiciare,  p.  267,  etc. 

*  "  The  political  factions  of  Constantinople,  and,  above  all,  the  fury  of  the 
iconoclasts,  continued  to  cause  a  constant  influx  of  Greek  artists  into  Italy ; 
many  Greeks  were  likewise  taken  into  the  gradually-increasing  circle  of  their 
lodges  and  filiations."    Hope,  On  Architecture,  p.  233. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


377 


sion  of  the  natives  of  the  North  to  the  religion  of  Christ 
caused  a  demand  for  the  erection  of  sacred  edifices,  to 
meet  the  wants  of  rapidly-increasing  proselytes,  and,  in 
consequence,  it  became  necessary  to  have  architects  compe- 
tent to  design  churches,  monasteries,  and  convents.  Cor- 
porations of  builders  were  dispatched  from  Northern  Italy 
to  the  Gallic  and  Germanic  provinces,  under  the  direction 
of  evangelists,  to  provide  the  inhabitants  with  suitable 
places  of  worship.1 

In  the  year  774,  Charlemagne  terminated  the  Longobar- 
dic  empire  by  the  defeat  of  Desiderius.  From  this  time 
the  Masonic  sodalities,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Carlo- 
vingian  dynasty,  enjoyed  a  freer  immunity  in  the  vast  do- 
minions of  the  German  emperor,  who,  as  previously  asserted, 
earnestly  cooperated  with  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  of 
the  Latin  church  to  advance  the  temporal  interests  of  his 
empire,  the  principal  of  which  was  architectural  art. 

The  opportunity  thus  afforded  for  the  introduction  of 
regularly-organized  building  corporations  among  the  peo- 
ple of  Northern  Europe  was  eagerly  seized  by  the  natives 
to  unite  themselves  with  these  bodies2  —  rendered  more 
feasible  by  the  merging  of  traditions  contributed  by 
Byzantine  initiates  into  the  superstitious  and  mythologi- 
cal customs  of  Germanic  guilds.  Clerical  influence  cer- 
tainly aided  to  secure  the  initiation  of  heathen  converts 
into  the  mystical  rites  of  these  fraternities,  in  order  that 
an  additional  means  might  be  furnished  for  propagating 
ecclesiastical  authority,  to  establish  a  moral  restraint  over 
the  proselytes,  and  also  that  a  supply  of  competent  work- 
men might  be  insured.  Mr.  Hope3  conjectures  that  the 
associations  of  Freemasons  were  first  formed  in  Lombardy. 
This  is  no  doubt  correct  as  to  the  locality,  but  their  incep- 
tion may  be  more  accurately  dated  back  to  the  period  of 
Gothic  rule.    It  may  be  safely  asserted  that  the  junction 

"   r~  

1  Ibid.,  p.  236,  etc.  *  Ibid.,  p.  233. 

32* 


378 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


of  Byzantine  corporations  with  Teutonic  guilds  afforded 
the  substantial  basis  of  subsequent  lodge  appointments  and 
ritualism,  such  as  have  descended  to  modern  Freemasonry. 
Actual  contact  with  Roman  civilization  in  Italy  to  some 
extent  modified  and  altered  many  of  the  essential  parts 
of  ancient  guildic  observances,  and  materially  assisted  in 
moulding  into  an  acceptable  form  such  elements  of  Free- 
masonry as  have  been  hitherto  demonstrated  to  be  descend- 
ed from  the  ancient  Teutons  and  Gothic  courts,  which  were 
a  close  imitation  of  heathen  temples.1 

It  has  been  clearly  shown2  that  the  Lombards  used 
largely  the  imperial  codes  and  rescripts  which  they  found 
in  the  conquered  provinces,  and  also  essentially  changed 
their  own  judicial  code  in  order  to  conform  to  what  pre- 
vailed among  the  vanquished  Romans.3 

Prudence  evidently  dictated  this  change:  because,  in 
the  sanguinary  conflicts  between  the  Longobards  and  people 
of  Italy,  many  of  the  former  were  destroyed.4  "Wben,  at 
length,  a  peace  had  been  concluded  between  the  belliger- 
ents, each  Roman  ceded  to  the  invading  Lombard  a  third 
part  of  his  landed  estate.  Christian  influence  also  tended 
to  gradually  transform  the  ruder  and  more  objectionable 
features  with  which  the  early  Oriental  artificers  were 
brought  in  contact,  and  rendered  a  gradual  assimilation  of 
Eastern  usages  with  Northern  customs  and  traditions  easy 
and  practicable.  In  this  way.  it  may  be  inferred,  the 
foundation  of  a  junction  between  Eastern  and  Western 
legends  was  laid,  broad  and  deep,  on  the  plains  of  Lom- 
bards. The  full  and  complete  details  of  this  union  were 
rounded  up  when  the  corporations  of  builders  mingled 
with  the  natives  of  Xorthern  Europe,  before  civilization 
or  necessity  had  demanded  important  alterations  of  relig- 
ious customs. 

1  Sim  rock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  517. 

2  Savigny,  Gesehichte  des  Rbmischen  Rechls.  Bd.  I.,  pp.  239,  296,  402. 

3  Ibid.,  Bd.  II..  pp.  209,  273.  and  Mackeldey.  Romische  Rtcht,  p.  81. 
*  Savignv,  op.  eit.,  Bd.  L,  p.  399. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 


Christianity  Retains  Northern  Superstitions  —  Teutonic  Ban- 
quets Preserved  by  Freemasonry  —  Toasts  to  the  Dead  — 
Christian  Saints  Substituted  for  Heathen  Divinities — Heathen 
Rites  and  Customs  Unchanged  by  Professors  of  the  New  Reli- 
gion —  Churches  Erected  on  Sites  of  Pagan  Temples  —  Festival 
Days  Continued  by  Christian  Priests  —  Guilds  Maintain  Ancient 
Usages. 


HATEVER  may  have  been  the  immediate  causes 
which  produced  the  rapid  conversion  of  the  Ger- 
man nations  to  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  it 
is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  work  to  determine. 


The  leading  policy  of  the  Roman  church  was  to  invest,  as 
far  as  practical,  the  tenets  of  the  new  faith  with  the  garb 
of  the  mythological  observances  and  practices  of  their  con- 
verts. This  design  was  expressly  inculcated  in  a  letter  of 
instruction  which  Gregory  the  Great  sent  to  St.  Augustine, 
who  had  entered  on  his  evangelical  mission  to  the  Anglo- 
Saxons.1  Strictly  adhering  to  a  policy  pursued  with  such 
illustrious  results  in  the  conversion  of  Pagan  Rome,  the 
early  Christian  missionaries  consecrated  the  temples  of 
Northern  deities  to  the  use  of  the  church  of  Christ, 
and  national  customs,  in  obedience  to  the  prejudices  of 
new  proselytes,  were  gradually  adapted  to  celebrating  the 
religion  of  the  cross.  The  heathens  had  been  accustomed 
to  enliven  the  solemn  rites  of  their  superstitions  by  the 
merriment  of  the  table. 


1  Lingard,  Antiquities  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church,  p.  24. 

379 


380 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


A  universal  practice  among  these  Paganistic  Northmen 
permitted  a  participation  in  hilarious  feasts,  whose  princi- 
pal diet  was  furnished  by  victims  offered  up  on  the  altars 
of  their  divinities.  At  these  banquets  the  heroic  deeds  of 
distinguished  warriors  were  sung,1  and  toasts  drank,  amid 
uproarious  glee,  to  the  memory  of  deceased  friends  and  in 
honor  of  their  gods.2  Gregory  directed  that  similar  enter- 
tainments should  be  allowed  to  new  converts,  and  ordered, 
on  fete  days  of  martyrs,  after  religious  service  had  been 
commemorated,  that  banquets  should  be  spread  in  tents 
adjoining  the  church,  and  the  same  customs  continued 
which  prevailed  with  the  heathens.3  Here  the  toast  to 
Odin,  Thor,  or  Frey,  was  substituted  to  the  honor  of  our 
Saviour  and  the  saints.4  ~No  change  was  attempted  in  the 
memorial  bowl  to  departed  friends.5  When  a  distinguished 
Scandinavian  died,  it  was  an  usage  freely  observed  that 
his  heir  should,  at  the  first  convenient  opportunity,  invite 
the  retainers  and  associates  of  the  deceased  to  a  sumptuous 
feast,  during  which  it  was  expected  of  his  legal  representa- 
tive to  empty  a  cup  to  the  memory  of  the  defunct.  After- 
wards he  ascended  the  high  seat,  always  occupied  by 
the  master  of  the  house,  placed  between  two  columns. 
This  occupancy  was  regarded  as  a  sign  of  assuming  posses- 
sion of  the  heritage.6    The  revelry  which  sometimes  ensued 


1  Ibid.,  loc.  cit. 

2  Mallet,  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  197 ;  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I., 
p.  271 ;  also,  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthiimer,  pp.  793,  822. 

3  Lingard,  Antiquities  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church,  p.  24. 

*  Mallet,  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  113;  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I., 
p.  270.  The  toast  proposed  by  Hagan,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Burgundian 
feast  to  Siegfried's  memory,  is  a  clear  derivation  of  this  usage.  Vide  Wilmar, 
Liter  atur  Geschichte,  p.  83,  an.  (*). 

5  On  the  decease  of  a  guild  brother,  memorial  services  were  sometimes  held 
for  three  successive  days,  but  on  the  third  day  toasts  were  drank  to  all  dead 
members.  Tertiam  vero  in  tertio  die  potationis  pro  omnibus  fratribus  de- 
functis.    Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  im  Mittlealter,  p.  123,  note  (1). 

6  Vide  Wilda,  op.  cit.,  pp.  6,  8. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


381 


in  consequence  of  bacchanalian  songs,  although  tolerated  by 
a  prudent  clergy,  ultimately  attained  to  such  gross  indecency 
that  a  concerted  effort  was  made  by  the  more  moderate 
converts  to  check  this  tendency,  and  was  partially  suc- 
cessful.1 

The  custom  of  toasting  the  memory  of  departed  members 
of  the  Masonic  fraternity  on  festal  occasions  has  come 
down  from  this  semi-religious  observance  of  the  ancient 
Germans.2  At  the  feasts  of  the  Northern  people,  a  garland 
of  flowers,  with  a  rose  prominently  in  the  centre,  was  sus- 
pended from  the  ceiling  above  the  table,  as  a  symbol  that 
everything  which  might  be  done  or  spoken  by  the  partici- 
pants in  the  banquet  should  be  held  strictly  secret.3  This 
is  the  origin  of  the  phrase  "  sub-rosa."  In  the  Gothic  code 
the  rose  was  an  emblem  of  secrecy,4  and  was  thus  considered 
by  the  mediaeval  operative  Masons.  Among  the  Masonic 
symbols  displayed  on  the  chiselled  walls  and  in  the  deli- 
cate tracery  of  European  cathedrals,  the  sculptured  rose 
frequently  appears.5 

Many  attributes  previously  assigned  to  subordinate 
Northern  deities  survived  to  their  Christian  successors,  the 
saints  and  martyrs.  In  accordance  with  a  usage  prevailing 
in  olden  times  of  superstition,  when  heathen  gods  were 
called  on  in  conjuration  and  magic  spells,  Christ  and  the 
holy  martyrs  were  subsequently  invoked  for  like  purposes. 

1  Mallet,  op.  ext.,  p.  114. 

2  Mediaeval  Masonic  toasts  were  drank  in  three  cadences.  Fallou,  Mysterien 
der  Freimaurer,  p.  65.  These  banquets  were  conducted  according  to  ancient 
custom,  and  developed  into  elaborate  details.  Regula{eur  du  Macon  (Prem. 
Grad.),  p.  40,  et  seq. 

3  Schauberg,  Symbol  ik  der  Freimaurerei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  203,  and  Grimm,  Deutsche 
Rechts  Alterthumer,  p.  203. 

4  Die  rose  bezeichnet  nicht  sowohl  das  Urtheil  als  die  heimlichkeit  und  stille 
des  Gerichts.    Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthumer,  p.  911. 

6  Stieglitz,  Geschichte  der  Baukunst,  cap.  xl.  There  are  some  fine  specimens 
of  this  rose  work  in  the  Heidelberg  castle.  Mystical  signification  of  the  three 
roses  formerly  on  a  Master's  apron.  ^  Vide  Winzer,  Die  Deutschen  Bruderschaften 
des  Mittelalters,  p.  152,  et  seq. 


382 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


Numerous  religious  rites,  used  in  the  formal  celebration  of 
a  fete  clay  sacred  to  a  heathen  divinity,  maintained  an  un- 
diminished vitality  under  the  adoration  of  saints  ;  the  only 
alteration  was  merely  an  act  of  subrogation.  Reverence 
of  shrines  and  martyred  relicts  perpetuated  Teutonic 
heathen  worship  of  the  dead.  The  manner  in  which 
Clovis  venerated  Saint  Martin  attests  that  he  regarded 
him  more  as  a  mythological  deity  than  a  Christian  saint. 
In  order  to  learn  the  issue  of  a  war  against  the  Wisigoths, 
this  Gallic  king  sent  to  the  martyr's  sepulchre,  as  to  an 
oracle,  for  information.1  It  was  a  custom  among  Pagan 
Norsemen  to  carry  the  image  or  symbol  of  a  goddess  around 
the  fields,  for  the  purpose  of  insuring  fertility  of  soil. 
This  usage  was  propagated  by  converts  to  Christianity. 

Superstitious  observances,  in  honor  or  in  fear  of  heathen 
deities,  continued,  with  slight  alteration,  under  the  new 
religion.2  Nerthus,  a  Teutonic  deess,  was  drawn  about  in 
a  carriage,  in  festive  procession,  through  several  districts 
of  Germany.3  In  Christian  times,  especially  on  the  open- 
ing of  spring,  the  same  solemn  ceremony  was  performed. 
On  such  occasions  a  symbol,  having  a  direct  allusion  to  this 
divinity,  was  also  carried  around,  and  received  its  share  of 
devotional  adoration. 

In  the  year  1133,  a  procession,  entirely  after  this  fashion, 
took  place,  under  the  manipulation  of  a  guild  of  weavers, 
and  was  attended  with  great  bacchanalian  festivity.  This 
celebration  prevailed  so  late  as  the  year  1330,  when  further 
indulgence  was  prohibited  by  a  decree  of  an  ecclesiastical 
council  held  at  ITlm.4  To  this  day  it  is  usual  to  kindle 
bonfires  in  Germany  on  St.  John's  day,  Christmas,  and 
Easter.  These  fires  thus  lighted  at  stated  intervals  are  the 
remnants  of  heathen  mystical  rites,  whose  observance  con- 

1  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  271.  2  Ibid.,  pp.  274-9. 

3  Tacitus,  Germania,  cap.  40. 

*  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  L,  p.  283,  etc.  Full  details  in  Grimm, 
Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  237,  ei  seq. ;  also,  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  520. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


383 


tinued  in  the  Christian  church  under  new  names.  It  has 
been  clearly  demonstrated 1  that  the  traditions  of  fairy 
prowess  and  dwarf  skill  are  directly  descended  from  old 
North  sagas,  and  that  no  radical  change  was  ever  made  in 
the  thought  and  popular  belief  of  proselytes  to  the  religion 
of  Christ,  excepting  in  an  external  form.  For  instance, 
the  notions  of  people  respecting  their  gods  were  altered  to 
render  them  diabolical  and  repulsive.  Giants  and  Frost 
deities  still  preserved  an  undisputed  existence,  but  were 
associated  with  evil  and  injury,  of  which  they  were  made 
the  instruments.2 

The  nursery  tale  of  Jack  and  the  Bean  Stalk  contains 
unequivocal  allusions  to  ancient  Norse  superstitions,  per- 
petuated, notwithstanding  the  changes  necessarily  effected 
by  the  adoption  of  Christianity.  One  incident  in  the 
romance  corresponds  exactly  with  the  device  of  the  giant 
Skinner  when  Thor  travelled  to  Utgord.3  As  previously 
urged  in  the  preceding  pages,  our  Saviour  and  his  saints 
were  substituted  for  heathen  gods,  and  endowed  with 
their  supernal  attributes.  A  remarkable  example  of  this 
mythological  vitality  may  be  seen  in  the  following  poem, 
discovered  and  published  by  Grimm  : 4 

"  Phol  endi  Wodan,  Phol  and  Wodan, 

Vuoru  zi  holza:  Went  to  the  woods ; 

Du  wart  demo  Balderes  volon,  Then  was  of  Balder's  colt 

Sin  vuoz  birenkit ;  His  foot  wrenched  ; 

Thu  biguolen  Sinthgunt,  Then  charmed  it  Sinthgunt, 

Sunna  era  Suister ;  And  Sunna  her  sister ; 

Thu  biguolen  Frua,  Then  charmed  it  Frua 

Volla  era  Suister ;  And  Volla  her  sister ; 

Thu  biguolen  Wodan  Then  charmed  it  Wodan 

So  he  wola  conda,  As  well  he  could, 

Sose  bewrenki,  As  well  the  bone-wrench, 

Sose  bluotrenki,  As  well  the  blood-wrench, 
Sose  lidirenki ;                       ,       As  well  the  joint-wrench. 


1  Keightly,  Fairy  Mythology,  p.  62,  et  seq. 

2  Thorpe,  op.  tit.,  Vol.  II.,  Introd.,  p.  xix.  3  Edda,  Gylfaginning,  c.  46. 
*  Grimm,  Ueber  Zwei  entdeckle  Gedichle  aus  der  Zeit  des  Dents.  Heidenthums. 


384 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


Ben  zi  ben  a,  Bone  to  bone, 

Bluot  zi  bluoda,  Blood  to  blood, 

Lid  zi  geliden,  Joint  to  joint, 

Sose  gelimida  sin."  As  if  glued  together. 

In  its  Christian  form  it  reads  in  Norwegian  verse:1 

"Jesus  reed  sig  til  Heede,  Jesus  rode  to  the  heath, 

Der  reed  han  syndt  sit  Folebeen.  There  he  rode  the  leg  of  his  colt  in  two; 

Jesus  stgide  af  og  laegte  det;  Jesus  dismounted  and  healed  it; 

Jesus  lagde  Morv  i  Morv,  Jesus  laid  marrow  to  marrow, 

Ben  i  ben,  Kjod  i  Kjod ;  Bone  to  bone,  flesh  to  flesh  ; 

Jesus  lagde  derpaa  et  Blad,  Jesus  laid  thereon  a  leaf 

At  det  skulde  blive  i  samme  stad."  That  it  might  remain  in  the  same  place. 

The  Christmas  tree  and  Jack's  bean-stalk  are  also  imi- 
tated after  the  ash  or  Yggdrasil2  of  the  Scandinavian 
mythology. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  real  wishes  of  the  evan- 
gelists wTho  introduced  the  Christian  faith  among  the  Ger- 
manic races,  it  was  utterly  impossible  to  prevent  the 
perpetuation  of  Paganistic  customs,  and  sometimes  a  total 
relapse  into  heathen  ceremonies.  To  render  opposition 
effective,  a  well  informed  clergy  was  indispensable  ;  but, 
unfortunately,  of  such  there  were  few,  and  too  often, 
indeed,  they  were  men  of  profane  and  ungodly  lives.  .  Not 
unfrequently  it  occurred,  as  in  the  case  mentioned  in  the 
life  of  Saint  Gall,3  in  an  oratory  dedicated  to  Saint  Aure- 
lia,  idols,  even  after  conversion,  were  worshipped  with 
sacrifices,  and  proselyted  Franks,  during  their  irruption 
into  Italy,  still  sacrificed  human  victims.4  Oftentimes 

1  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  23. 

2  The  vast  resources  offered  to  the  mediaeval  Freemasons  by  Northern  sym- 
bolism were  freely  used.  Among  other  emblematic  delineations  drawn  from 
an  unadulterated  Paganism,  were  carved  statuettes  and  embossed  figures,  the 
sun  and  moon,  and  the  Yggdrasil,  with  a  wolf  gnawing  at  its  roots.  Luebke, 
Gesckichte  der  Plastik,  pp.  298,  325.  Mythology  in  church  architecture.  Sim- 
rock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  496. 

3  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  266. 

4  In  the  year  554,  Childbert,  king  of  the  Franks,  issued  a  decree  directing 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


385 


when  zealous  missionaries  fondly  believed  the  natives 
thoroughly  converted  to  doctrines  which  they  boldly  pro- 
fessed, the  return  of  those  seasons  during  which  the  new 
converts  were  accustomed  to  celebrate  with  uproariousness 
the  joyous  festivals  of  heathen  times,  caused  a  sudden 
reaction  to  the  idolatrous  practices  of  their  ancestors,  but 
in  all  such  relapses  a  politic  hierarchy,  on  a  faint  indica- 
tion of  penitence,  grandly  forgave  the  impetuous  Pagan- 
ized Christian  by  a  "  laying  on  of  hands."  1 

So  long  as  the  people  confessed  to  the  new  faith  and 
were  baptized,  the  reverend  priests  themselves  performed 
sacrifices  to  popular  divinities.2  Saint  Boniface 3  bitterly 
complained  that  many  assumed  the  offices  of  priesthood 
without  being  consecrated,  and  preached  the  doctrines  of 
Christ  neither  according  to  the  Romish  creed  nor  in 
churches,  but  boldly  proclaimed  it  in  open  fields  or  on  the 
hill-tops,  in  places  where  ancient  worship  was  solemnized. 
Crosses  were  also  frequently  erected  there,  and  magic  and 
soothsaying  freely  practised.4  Of  this  species  of  heathen- 
ism maintaining  a  vigorous  vitality,  was  the  magical 
potency  attributed  to  certain  Runic  characters  carved  on 
slender  columns,  which  magicians  carried  around  with 
them  and  used  in  prognosticating.5 

Many  things  savoring  strongly  of  Paganism  were 
allowed  to  continue  undisturbed  by  the  priests  from  abso- 


the  discontinuance  of  all  idolatrous  sacrifices,  but  with  little  effect,  since  a 
more  rigid  edict  of  Charlemagne  was  published  against  idol  worship  by 
human  sacrifices.    Baluz.,  Capitular.  Regum  Franco.,  Tome  I.,  pp.  6,  849. 

1  Per  manus  impositionem,  absolutione  precum  sacerdotalium.  Ibid.,  Tome 
I.,  Lib.  V.,  cap.  cxxxiii. 

2  Boniface,  Epist.,  25.    Vide  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  266. 

3  EpistoL,  87. 

*  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  267.  In  the  time  of  Charlemagne, 
the  potency  of  the  cross  was  expressly  recognized  in  judicial  proceedings. 
Baluz.,  Gapitul.  Regum  Francor.,  Tome  I.,  p.  197.  Also,  in  King  Pepin's  reign. 
Ibid.,  Tome  I.,  p.  164.    See  Addit.  Legem  Salicam,  an.  3,  cap.  1. 

5  Olaus  Magnus,  Hist.  Septri.  ac  vario  Condit.,  p.  47. 
33  Z 


386 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


lute  necessity,  otherwise  the  whole  social  fabric  of  the 
Teutonic  races  must  have  been  disintegrated.  Political 
institutions,  particularly  of  a  beneficial  nature,  were  left 
untouched.  Heathen  usages,  venerable  and  inviolable,  on 
account  of  their  high  antiquity,  survived  ecclesiastical 
changes,  unless,  perhaps,  in  the  case  of  the  Longobardi  in 
Italy,  who  apparently  conformed  to  the  Roman  code.  In 
consequence  of  this  policy  of  the  church,  the  time  and 
place  of  judicial  procedure,  and  the  method  of  legal  trans- 
actions, maintained  a  steadfast  connection  with  heathen 
sacrificial  and  festive  localities,1  although  the  offerings 
formerly  made  by  the  Pagans  were  discontinued.  Even 
so  late  as  the  age  of  Childeric,  the  high  powers  of  ecclesi- 
astical and  imperial  authority  were  invoked  for  the  purpose 
of  extinguishing  many  of  the  grosser  Paganistic  practices.2 
Trial  by  ordeal,  by  fire  or  water,  under  a  Christian  garb, 
withstood  the  altered  necessities  of  religious  worship.3 

In  unnumbered  instances,  the  clergy  were  powerless  to 
effect  a  radical  transformation,  as  in  matters  of  warfare 
and  the  heathenism  usually  practised  under  the  sanction 
of  the  battle  god ;  consequently,  many  usages,  the  relics 
of  Northern  mythology,  were  absorbed  into  the  newly 
developed  Christian  structure,  or  preserved  their  ground 
by  force  of  law  and  immemorial  custom.  Few  attempts 
were  made  by  the  earlier  missionaries  to  interfere  with 
spiritual  interdicts  between  the  social  relations  of  their 
converts.  One  case  may  be  specially  cited,  where  an 
over-zealous  evangelist  lost  his  life  by  censuring  a  Frank- 


1  Vide  Indicul.  Superstit.  et  Pagan,  cap.  v.-xviii. 

2  Baluz.,  op.  ext.,  Tome  I.,  p.  6,  et  seq. :  De  abolendis  reliquiis  idolatriae  et  de 
sacror.  dierum  festivil.,  etc. 

3  Opfer  tilgte  der  Christenglaube,  er  liest  aber  die  alten  Gerichtsstatten 
ungestort.  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthumer,  p.  793.  The  three  court  days 
undisturbed.  Ibid.,  p.  822.  Heims  et  ver  et  aestas  intellectum  ac  vocabula 
habent.  Tac,  Germania,  c.  26.  The  trials  noted,  substantially,  are  found  to 
be  of  Asiatic  origin.    Lea,  Superstit.  and  Force,  chap.  iii. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


387 


ish  prince,  who  had  espoused  a  kinswoman  within  the 
degree  proscribed  by  canon  law. 

From  sheer  necessity,  evangelizing  ministers  were  com- 
pelled to  proceed  with  much  precaution  whenever  they 
were  unable  to  extirpate  integral  portions  of  ancient 
religious  ceremonies.  In  the  usual  clerical  policy,  heathen 
ideas  and  external  representation  were  temporized  with, 
and  invested  with  a  Christian  garb.1  Such  accommodation 
appeared  in  the  construction  of  churches,  or  the  erection 
of  crosses  on  places  esteemed  sacred  by  the  heathens,  for 
the  purpose  of  excluding  therefrom  mythological  worship, 
and  to  accustom  proselytes  to  adore  these  localities  in  a 
Christian  sense. 

Gregory  the  Great  instructed  his  missionaries  to  pre- 
serve Pagan  temples,  but  to  relentlessly  destroy  all  idols 
contained  in  them.  Wherever  the  edifice  was  suitably 
constructed,  he  directed  that  the  building  should  be 
sprinkled  with  holy  water,  altars  erected,  and  martyred 
reliques  deposited  in  them,  in  order  that  the  structure, 
within  whose  walls  the  frenzied  rites  of  Odin  or  Frey  had 
been  celebrated,  might  be  reclaimed  from  diabolical  ser- 
vices unto  the  worship  of  the  true  God.2 

An  additional  reason  was  urged  by  the  astute  pontiff. 
In  strict  harmony  with  the  entire  proselyting  scheme, 
which  we  have  seen  unswervingly  pursued  in  paganizing 
the  early  Christian  church,  so  that  no  well-settled  ten- 
dencies might  be  shocked  by  great  social  or  religious 
changes  of  form,  it  was  argued  by  the  illustrious  Pope 
that  the  Germanic  people,  seeing  their  sacred  structures 
left  untouched,  would  the  more  rapidly  abjure  their  erro- 
neous faith,  and,  recognizing  the  one  Almighty,  would 
hasten  to  places  rendered  familiar  by  custom. 

The  wood  of  the  oak,  felled  with  such  fiery  zeal  by 


1  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  208. 

2  Beda,  Histor.  Ecclesia.,  Lib.  L,  c.  30. 


388 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


Boniface,  and  the  gold  of  the  Longobardie  snake,  were 
manufactured  into  an  altar  and  sacred  utensils,  so  that  the 
popular  mind  might  be  gradually  familiarized  with  a 
transmission  from  the  old  to  the  new  faith.  As  already 
narrated,  the  great  festival  days  of  the  heathen  Teutons 
were  celebrated  under  the  names  of  canonized  saints ;  and 
wherever  it  had  been  the  custom,  during  these  periodical 
carousals,  to  sacrifice  animals  to  mythical  divinities,  by 
explicit  instruction  of  Gregory1  a  like  usage  was  to  be 
recognized  under  the  new  dispensation,  "because  it  was 
impossible  to  divest  the  mind  instantaneously  of  long 
continued  habits ;  for  whoever  would  ascend  a  mountain, 
could  arrive  only  step  by  step,  not  at  a  single  leap."2 
Here,  therefore,  was  the  most  emphatic  recognition  of  the 
policy  pursued  by  the  Romish  church  in  securing  the 
adherence  of  converts  to  the  religion  of  Christ  —  a  system 
which  opened  a  pathway  for  the  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity, but  rendered  the  complete  extirpation  of  heathen- 
ism impossible.  To  these  circumstances,  no  doubt,  can  be 
attributed  the  perpetuation  of  Pagan  formularies  used  in 
the  Gothic  courts,  and  the  continuation  of  mythological 
rites  and  ceremonies  in  mediaeval  guilds,  which  conjointly 
furnished  to  Freemasonry  the  skeleton  of  Norse  customs, 
upon  which  Judaistic  ritualism  was  strung. 

1  Beda,  Historia  Ecclesiast.,  Lib.  I.,  c.  30. 

*  Nam  duris  mentibus  simul  omnia  abscidere  impossibile  esse  non  dubium 
est ;  quia  et  is  qui  summum  locum  ascendere  nititur  gradibus  vel  passibus  non 
autem  saltibus  elevatur.  Beda,  op.  tit.,  Epist.  ad  Melitum.  The  reverend 
father  closes  his  epistle  to  Melitus  with  an  illustration  drawn  from  Jewish 
history. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Teutonic  Sodalities  Coeval  with  the  German  Races  —  Never 
Destroyed  —  Guilds  Instituted  in  Monasteries  —  Preserve 
Heathen  Customs  —  Dedicated  to  Christian  Saints  —  Anglo- 
Saxon  Associations  —  Members  Wear  Badges,  and  Duly  Obli- 
gated—  Guilds  in  the  Year  1389 — Abjuration  Formula  of  743 
—  Societies  Celebrate  the  Worship  of  Heathen  Deities  —  Open 
to  both  Sexes  —  Joined  by  Nobility  and  Ecclesiastics — The 
Practice  of  Charity  —  Mutual  Help  Enjoined  —  Chaplain  — 
Guilds  in  the  Time  of  Charlemagne  —  Oath-Bound  Societies  — 
Colleges  of  Builders  and  Gothic  Guilds  —  Ancient  Formularies 
of  Temple  Worship  Preserved  by  these  Bodies. 


UILDS,  or  associations  for  mutual  benefit,  being 
an  important  element  constituting  ancient  Ger- 
manic society,  were  never  eradicated  by  Christian 
evangelists.    Instead  of  obliterating  this  remark- 


able phase  of  heathenism,  it 'was  suffered  to  remain.  In 
this  concession  to  popular  necessity,  a  policy  equally  well- 
defined  with  that  previously  noted  manifests  itself  clearly. 
As  already  stated,  the  introduction  of  Christianity  among 
the  Northern  nations  involved  the  essential  alteration  of 
the  objective  point  of  Pagan  customs,  by  giving  them 
a  slightly  variant  tendency  without  social  revolution. 
This  was  the  carefully-pursued  plan  of  the  missionaries  in 
dealing  with  guilds. 

The  history  of  these  associations  leads  far  back  into  the 
twilight  of  Teutonic  antiquity,  and  by  the  almost1  unani- 


1  Heineccius,  Antiquitates  Germanicaef  Tome  II.,  cap.  vi.,  p.  340,  assigned 
the  origin  of  these  societies  to  the  Roman  colleges,  but  more  recent  researches 
have  developed  their  existence  as  stated  above. 

33  *  389 


390 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


mous  assertion  of  German  and  Scandinavian  antiquaries 
the  substantial  principles  of  guilds,  which  prominently 
appeared  in  such  diverse  forms  during  the  Middle  Ages  as 
an  accurately  denned  element,  are  firmly  rooted  in  JSTorse  or 
Germanic  antiquities.1  They  are  coeval  with  the  earliest 
records  of  the  Gothic  race.  As  an  energizing  power  for 
the  perpetuation  of  Christian  religious  tenets,  the  clergy, 
at  a  very  early  age,  favored  the  existence  and  development 
of  these  unions.  In  fact,  they  imitated  them  within  con- 
ventual walls  whenever  a  necessity  arose  for  a  more  inti- 
mate brotherhood,  as,  for  instance,  offering  up  mutual 
prayers  for  the  safety  of  souls,  and  to  assist  each  other  in 
cases  of  distress.2 

According  to  a  capitulary  of  Hincmar,  archbishop  of 
Rheims,  drawn  up  in  the  ninth  century,  these  ecclesiastical 
sodalities  were  directly  derived  from  the  Pagan  brother- 
hoods, and  betrayed  in  a  notable  degree  the  strange  mix- 
ture of  Christianity  and  heathenism.3    Their  assemblies 

1  Die  Geschichte  des  Gildenwesen  fulirt  uns  in  die  fernste  Germanische 
vorzeit  zuriick.  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  des  Mittelalters,  p.  3 ;  Lacroix,  Les 
Moeurs  et  Usages  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  295,  et  seq.  Vide  Unger,  Die  Altdeutsche 
Gerichtsverfassung,  \\  6  and  7,  for  the  elements  of  early  political  guilds. 

*  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen,  p.  34 ;  Smith,  English  Guilds,  p.  319. 

3  Zusammenkiinfte  ganz  die  Form  der  Gilden  versammlungen  angenommen 
und  Christliches  und  Ungermanisches  sich  audi  hier  verraischt  hatte.  Wilda, 
Das  Gilden  Wesen  des  Mittelalters,  p.  35.  The  original  edict  referred  to  is  as 
follows :  Non  quasi  ad  prandium  ibi  ad  tabulam  resideant  et  per  tales  incon- 
venientes  pastellos  se  invicem  gravent  quia  inhonestum  est  et  onerosum.  Et 
singulos  biberes  accipiant  maxime  autem  ultra  tertiam  vicem  poculum  ibi 
non  contingant  ad  ecclesias  suas  reddeant.  Labbaei.  Concil.,  Tome  X.,  p.  4, 
from  Wilda,  ut  supra.  The  convivialities  of  the  banquet  table  seem  to  have 
been  the  object  of  religious  censure.  Many  attempts  were  made  by  the  eccle- 
siastical authorities  to  modify  the  excesses  consequent  upon  such  assemblages, 
but  with  indifferent  success.  A  standing  regulation  of  numerous  English 
associations  punished  drunkenness  with  a  fine.  Smith,  English  Guilds,  p.  81. 
One  of  the  charges  urged  against  the  Freemasons,  at  a  comparatively  recent 
date,  was  grounded  upon  the  hilarity  of  their  drinking  bouts,  which  followed 
each  initiation.  Krause,  Die  Drei  celtesten  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  I.,  Ab.  1,  p. 
291,  et  seq.    See,  in  this  connection,  Plot,  Nat.  Hist,  of  Staffordshire,  §  85,  and 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


391 


were  held  on  the  first  day  of  each  month,  and  banquets 
were  spread  and  songs  indulged  in,  in  imitation  of  the 
heathen  Germans.  Ancient  Pas:an  festivals  were  also  held 
three  times  in  each  year,1  at  which  periods  the  courts, 
under  the  direction  originally  of  the  priesthood,  opened 
for  the  transaction  of  legal  business.  These  fetes  were 
entirely  religious  in  their  character,  and  on  such  occasions 
solemn  sacrifices  assisted  in  the  pomp  of  sacerdotal  cele- 
bration. Besides  the  courts  convened  thus  periodically, 
and  which  each  freeman  was  obliged  to  attend,2  fairs  and 
markets  were  held,  as  an  additional  commemoration  of 
Northern  worship.3 

After  the  politic  substitution  of  our  Saviour,  Virgin 
Mary,  and  the  saints  for  heathen  deities,  an  effort  was 
successfully  made  to  bring  these  festivals  on  days  sacred  to 
Christianity,  and  in  consequence  the  ecclesiastical  authori- 
ties ordained  that  the  solemnization  of  such  festal  days 
should  continue  under  a  new  restriction,  and  that  the 
health  of  Christ  and  the  Virgin  should  be  toasted,  as  a 
thanksgiving  for  peace  and  plenty.  Christmas,  All  Saints, 
and  Saint  John's  days,  were  designated  for  this  purpose. 

To  the  present  time,  among  Freemasons,  the  custom  sur- 
vives of  especial  solemnities  on  Saint  John's  day.  By  an 
ancient  fundamental  law  of  Norse  fraternities,  the  smallest 
number  contemplated  in  the  organization  of  a  guild,  quali- 
fied to  celebrate  any  festal  day,  was  three4 —  an  obsolete 

Schauberg,  Symbolik  der  Freimaurerei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  88.  A  statute  of  St.  Olave's 
Guild  enacted:  Quicunque  potum  suum  effundit  latius  quam  pede  velare 
poterit  VI.  Den.  persolvit.    Barthol.,  De  Caus.  Contempt,  p.  133. 

1  Grimm,  D.  R.  A.,  p.  822. 

2  Maurer,  Geschichte  der  Markenverfassung,  p.  338. 

3  Wilda,  op.  cit.,  p.  10. 

4  Mann  und  Frau  eins  veranstalten  und  wenigstens  von  drei  Personen 
sollte  es  zusammen  gehalten  werden.  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  des  Mittelalters, 
p.  14. 

Mas.  "Why  do  three  make  a  lodge,  brother? 
Ans.  Because  there  were  three  Grand  Masters. 
Krause,  Die  Drei  celtesten  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  I.,  Abt.  1,  p.  196. 


392 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


landmark  with  modern  Freemasonry  to  designate  the 
number  necessary  to  form  a  lodge.  How  closely  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice  among  the  people  of  the  North  was 
related  to  these  guild  festivals,  appears  from  the  alteration 
made  by  King  Olaf  affecting  the  courts,  which  hitherto  had 
been  convened  in  the  open  air  of  rural  districts.  He  or- 
dained in  future  that  popular  festal  assemblages  should  be 
convened  in  guild-houses  in  the  towns,  and  as  the  time 
for  holding  courts  was  identical  with  that  of  religious 
festivals,  justice  should  thenceforth  be  administered  within 
enclosed  halls.1 

Ancient  Anglo-Saxon  guilds  contemplated  local  self- 
help  prior  to  the  invention  of  poor  laws,  and  were  main- 
tained in  old  times  as  beneficial  societies.2  As  a  system 
of  extensive  and  practical  assistance  to  members,  they  are 
of  a  higher  autiquity  than  the  kings  of  England.  Mention 
is  made  of  them  in  the  oldest  records  containing  relics  of 
English  law. 

The  legislation  of  Kings  Alfred  and  Ina,  of  Athelstane 
and  Henry  L,  are  merely  a  reproduction  of  older  laws 
on  the  subject  of  guilds.3  As  early  as  the  years  688  and 
725,  by  the  decrees  of  King  Ina,  a  thief  having  been  slain 
by  guildic  brethren,  they  were  liable  to  a  prescribed  penalty. 
Similar  to  the  principles  involved  in  administration  of 
Norse  justice,  every  person  was  understood  by  the  law  to 
belong  to  a  guild  in  the  time  of  Alfred  the  Great,  and  the 
amercements  to  which  these  bodies  were  subjected  for  the 
murder  of  a  guildic  member  are  defined  with  precision. 
The  famous  Judicia  Civitatis  Londoniae,  of  Athelstane's 
time,  a.  d.  924-940,  contains,  among  other  regulations, 
certain  ordinances  for  the  maintenance  of  social  duties 
in  these  unions,  or  guildships,  as  they  are  called.  Anglo- 

1  Wilda,  op.  cit.,  p.  16.  Charlemagne  also  enacted  that  the  courts  should 
be  held  under  canopy.  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthumer,  p.  806 ;  Baluz., 
Capitular.  Reg.  Franc,  Tome  I.,  p.  472. 

2  Lucy  Toulman  Smith,  Introd.  English  Guilds,  p.  xiv.        3  Ibid.,  p.  xv. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


393 


Saxon  guilds  appear  to  have  contemplated  like  purposes,  for 
which,  as  above  stated,  the  clerical  fraternities  of  the 
Scandinavians  were  organized  —  to  sing  psalms  and  offer 
up  prayers  for  the  souls  of  the  dead.1  There  is  also  extant 
a  record,  of  the  age  of  Ethelbert,  granting  land,  in  the  year 
860,  to  an  association  of  young  men  —  Chnighten  gild.  It 
has  been  conjectured  that  protective  guilds  were  trans- 
planted from  England  to  the  North  in  Canute's  reign,2  and 
that  the  most  ancient  knowledge  of  such  institutions  is  of 
decided  English  origin.3  However,  the  essential  elements 
constituting  these  societies  were  an  integral  portion  of  the 
Teutonic  races.4 

We  have  seen  that  all  the  important  events  of  Scandi- 
navian social  life,  such  as  marriage,  death,  mutual  assist- 
ance in  peace  and  war,  were  carefully  attended  to  in 
the  guildic  brotherhoods,  and  at  the  festivals,  which, 
according  to  Wilda,5  were  designated  guilds.  These  con- 
fraternities constituted  a  radical  part  of  the  religious 
worship  of  heathenism,  and  were  based  on  such  customs 
as  appertained  to  sacerdotal  rites.  They  prevailed  in  the 
kingdom  of  England  not  only  during  the  unsettled  period 
of  Anglo-Saxon  rule,  but  for  ages  subsequent  to  the  Nor- 
man conquest.  By  law  they  were  distinguished  as  Band- 
ships,  and  were  under  the  patronage  of  illustrious  men. 
The  members  wore  public  badges,  and  were  obligated  to 
support  each  other  in  all  external  quarrels  and  against 
every  species  of  outrage. 

In  the  reign  of  Richard  II.,  a  statute  was  solemnly 

1  Smith,  English  Guilds,  Introd.,  by  L.  T.  S.,  pp.  xvi.,  xvii. 

2  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  des  Mittelalters,  p.  69. 

3  Brentano,  History  of  the  Origin  and  Development  of  Guilds,  p.  lvii. 

*  Although  the  English  records  are  more  perfect  in  historical  proofs  touch- 
ing this  subject,  a  careful  examination  of  the  old  Teutonic  laws  leads  to  the 
conclusion  that  this  institution  was  of  indigenous  growth,  and  not  transplanted, 
as  alleged  above,  in  Canute's  time.  Vide  Unger,  Die  Altdeutsche  Gerichtsver- 
fassung,  §g  6  and  7. 

5  Op.  cit.,  c.  1. 


394 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


enacted  placing  these  societies  under  better  regulations. 
A  formal  bond,  preserved  by  Hicks,  in  his  Dissertatio 
Upistolaris,1  shows  clearly  the  prevailing  sentiment  of 
Anglo-Saxon  times  touching  these  reciprocal  relations  of 
assistance,  both  aggressive  and  defensive.  The  original 
design  of  many  guilds  was  unquestionably  largely  modi- 
lied  from  unadulterated  purposes  of  religious  worship  into 
the  less  commendable  and  undisguised  object  of  social  and 
convivial  associations. 

In  unnumbered  cases  they  were  perpetuated  for  no  other 
support  than  the  maintenance  of  excessive  hilarity  and 
intemperance;  but  the  returns  made  under  oath  by  the 
vast  number  of  guilds,  in  answer  -to  a  statute  of  Richard 
II.,  in  the  year  1389,2  demand  the  just  award  that  the 
spirit  and  polity  of  their  internal  government  at  that 
remote  period  were  designed  to  subserve  the  most  humane 
instincts  of  humanity. 

Strenuous  efforts  were  made  by  the  ecclesiastics  of  Char- 
lemagne to  withdraw  abruptly  the  minds  of  wavering 
Saxon  converts  from  the  indulgences  and  excitations  of 
their  guilds,3  which  vitalized  the  decaying  rites  and  cere- 
monies celebrated  in  honor  of  Pagan  deities.  In  the 
abjuration  formulas  decreed  in  the  year  743,  by  the 
council  of  Lepintae,4  the  following  questions  were  to  be 
appropriately  enforced  : 

Q.  Forsachistu  diabolae  ? 

A.  Ec  forsacho  diabolae. 

Q.  End  allum  diabol  gelde.?  (gild). 

A.  End  ec  forsacho  allum  diabol  gelde. 

1  P.  21.    Vide  Mallet,  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  197,  note  (*). 

2  Vide  Preface  to  Smith's  English  Guilds,  p.  123. 

3  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  des  Mittelalters,  p.  21. 

*  This  council  which  was  convened  in  the  reign  of  Childeric  III.,  king  of 
the  Franks,  directed  the  preparation  of  several  important  decrees  and  formu- 
laries for  confession  of  faith  and  renunciation  of  Paganistic  customs,  so 
rigidly  adhered  to  by  the  new  converts.  See  Baluz.,  Capitular  Reg.  Franc., 
Tome  I.,  pp.  149,  150,  et  seq. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


395 


Q.  End  allum  diaboles  wereum? 

A.  End  ec  forsachq  allum  diaboles  wercum  eud  wordum, 
thunaer  (Thor)  ende  woden  (Odin)  ende  Saxnote  (Frey) 
ende  allem  dem  unlioldum  the  hira  genotas  sind.1 

At  the  same  time  a  schedule  of  Paganistic  observances, 
still  practised  in  the  recently  converted  empire  of  Ger- 
many, was  drawn  up,  and  adequate  punishment  was  to  be 
inflicted  upon  all  who  persisted  in  recognizing  heathen 
deities.2 

The  citation  given  at  length  is  of  especial  weight  and 
importance  for  the  subject  under  dissertation.  It  attests, 
with  unequivocal  certainty  and  directness,  that  in  the 
eighth  century  there  still  existed  guilds  whose  expressed 
object  was  the  celebration  of  the  mystical,  and  perhaps 
repulsive,  rites3  of  Thor,  Odin,  and  Frey,  and  that  as  the 
guilds  and  their  ceremonies  were  left  untouched  by  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities,  the  ancient  symbolic  ritualism 
adapted  to  the  worship  of  these  three  principal  divinities 
of  Asgard  was  preserved  in  a  fragmentary  and  altered 
form  by  succeeding  Teutonic  sodalities,  and  among  them 
the  mediaeval  guild  of  Masons.  The  assembling  of  a 
necessary  number  to  constitute  one  of  tbese  ancient  frater- 
nities was  oftentimes  informal,  and  without  preparatory 
arrangement.    The  idea  of  a  sworn  and  secret  organ iza- 


1  Q.  Dost  thou  renounce  the  devil  ? 
A.  I  renounce  the  devil. 

Q.  And  guilds  of  the  devil  ? 

A.  And  I  renounce  all  guilds  of  the  devil. 

Q.  And  all  the  works  of  the  devil  ? 

A.  And  I  renounce  all  the  devil's  works  and  words,  of  Thor  and  Odin  and 
Saxnote  (Frey),  and  all  those  who  are  their  associates. 

See  Eoskoff,  Geschichte  des  Teufels,  Bd.  I.,  p.  292.  Substantially  a  like  ar- 
ticle of  abjuration  is  used  by  all  evangelical  denominations  of  the  present  day. 

2  The  forbidden  heathen  practices  may  be  seen  in  the  Indiculus  Superstilio. 
et  Paganiar.    Baluz.,  Capitular.  Reg.  Franc,  Tome  I.,  p.  150,  etc. 

3  Secret  societies  existed  in  France  at  a  later  period  for  the  performance  of 
obscene  rites.    Payne  Knight,  Worship  of  Priapus,  p.  182. 


396 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


tion  of  later  epochs  existed  then  only  in  a  limited  degree,1 
but  the  banquets,  which  formed  so  prominent  a  part  of 
these  associations,  existed  under  the  Christian  regime  as 
an  integral  element  of  civil  society.  Guilds  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  were  certainly  developed  from  the  conventions 
of  an  earlier  date,  and  since,  in  the  one  instance,  women 
were  admitted  to  make  up  the  sacred  number  essential  to 
a  perfect  organization,  so  in  the  later  history  of  these 
unions  wives  and  sisters  became  members.2 

At  what  epoch  the  sentiment  of  a  more  thorough 
fraternal  sentiment  began  to  be  introduced  into  these 
brotherhoods,  is  confessedly  uncertain ;  it  is,  however,  in 
harmony  with  the  usual  development  of  ecclesiastical 
policy  in  this  connection  to  assume  that  this  modification 
naturally  followed  the  reorganization  of  old  social  life  on 
a  Christian  basis.3  The  clergy,  as  previously  mentioned, 
seized  with  much  eagerness  the  opportunity  afforded  by 
the  guilds  to  weld  the  people  and  themselves  into  a  closer 
unity.  In  these  unions,  the  fraternal  spirit  was  the  pre- 
dominant one. 

The  first  durable  basis  of  mediaeval  and  modern  associa- 
tions was  evidently  prepared  and  carefully  developed  into 
the  solid  growth  of  subsequent  times  within  cloistered 
walls,  and  finally  transmitted  to  the  outside  world,  refined 
by  the  hallowed  contact  of  Christianity.  In  the  year  838, 
the  monks  of  two  Gallic  monasteries,  St.  Remigus  and  St. 
Dionysius,  in  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  the  reign  of  Lewis  the 
Pious,  framed  a  guild,  whose  object  was  charity  combined 
with  religious  usages.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  document, 
which  sets  forth  with  sufficient  accuracy  the  design  of 


1  The  Anglo-Saxons  certainly  pledged  each  other  a  mutual  support  by  oath. 
Kemble,  Saxons  in  England,  Vol.  II.,  p.  310. 

2  Wilda.  Das  Gilden  Wesen  des  Milielalters,  p.  29.  A  casual  examination  of 
the  collected  returns  in  Smith's  English  Guilds  will  develop  the  oft-repeated 
mention  of  feminine  guildic  members. 

8  Wilda,  op.  cit.,  p.  30. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


397 


such  fraternization,  the  names  of  several  bishops,  abbots, 
and  many  monks  appear  as  solemnly  united  brethren.  It 
was  usual,  during  the  Middle  Ages,  for  strangers  or  pro- 
fane, emperors  and  kings  in  person,  to  be  associated  with 
such  fraternities.1 

Oftentimes  individuals,  an  entire  guildic  brotherhood, 
and  lay  corporations  affiliated  with  cloisters  or  other 
ecclesiastical  orders.  This  was  done  in  order  that  the 
associate  members  might  enjoy  the  conventual  good  works, 
and  also  to  have  masses  celebrated  for  the  repose  of  souls 
after  death.2  Such  privilege  was  frequently  purchased 
with  enormous  sums  of  money.  Another  example  recorded 
of  an  ancient  fraternity  of  the  time  of  William  L,  attests 
the  close  compact  existing  between  seven  English  abbeys. 
The  parties  to  the  agreement  profess  true  faith  and  alle- 
giance to  the  king  and  his  queen,  Matilda,  and,  in  order 
to  define  with  precision,  they  assert  their  object  to  be  the 
advancement  of  mutual,  temporal,  and  spiritual  welfare. 
Secular  guilds  quickly  imitated  the  example  of  charity 
and  fraternal  spirit  exhibited  by  their  conventual  associ- 
ates ;  they  also  incorporated  in  their  unions  an  element  of 
brotherly  affection,  harmony,  and  reciprocal  assistance. 
Thus,  for  instance,  the  statute  of  Saint  John's  guild,  com- 
posed mainly  of  goldsmiths,3  began  with  the  following 
quotation:  "  The  prophet  David,  in  the  Psalms,  says, '  How 
good  and  pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in 
unity.' "  This  Scriptural  quotation,  in  use  many  centuries 
ago  among  a  guild  of  gold-workers,  has  continued  to  be  an 
integral  part  of  Masonic  ritualism. 

Under  the  pressure  of  Christianizing  fervor,  the  com- 
mingling of  religious  thought  with  ancient  Germanic 
social  life  evolved  these  closely-organized  bodies  of  the 

1  Unge witter,  Geschichte  des  Handels  u.  der  Industrie,  p.  234 ;  Machiavelli, 
Istorie  Fiorientine,  Tomo  I.,  pp.  402-3. 
3  Wilda,  op.  ext.,  pp.  30-1. 

9  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  des  Miltelalters,  p.  32. 
34 


398 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


Middle  Ages.1  The  earliest  and  most  practicable  form 
assumed  by  the  mediaeval  corporations,  was  based  upon  a 
plan  of  mutual  benefit,  or  the  aid  which  each  member  was 
obligated  to  render  his  brother  member  in  emergent  cir- 
cumstances. All  initiates  into  these  leagues  partook  of 
equal  friendships  and  enmities.2  On  this  scheme  of  mutual 
assistance,  guilds  were  created,  and,  in  a  modernized  form, 
were  the  prototypes  of  a  well-defined  element  in  the  old' 
Norse  constitution.3 

The  groundwork  of  the  original  fraternities  was  cer- 
tainly the  benefit  each  member  derived  from  the  organi- 
zations, but  the  infusion  of  Christian  tenets  into  them 
largely  developed  humanitarian  ideas.  Although  united 
in  many  instances  to  advance  the  spiritual  welfare  under 
monastic  discipline,  after  the  lapee  of  time  these  associa- 
tions freely  cultivated  temporal  prosperity.4  To  what 
extent  ecclesiastical  influence  reached  in  moulding  these 
associations  into  harmony  with  the  faith  that  had  sup- 
planted heathenism,  may  be  seen  in  the  prefatory  dedica- 
tions to  mediaeval  written  records,  which,  similar  to  the 
initial  clause  of  St.  Olav's  guild,  begin  with  the  words, 
In  nomine  Patris  et  Filii  et  Spiritus  Sancti,  Amen.5  In 
almost  all  Masonic  manuscripts  thus  far  brought  to  light, 
this  Latin  invocation  invariably  occurs.6  The  introductory 
sentences  of  the  guild  just  mentioned  recount,  with  par- 
ticular emphasis,  that  the  convivium  or  sodality  is  not 
instituted  for  a  drinking  bout,  but  with  the  more  laudable 
purpose  of  social  benevolence. 


1  Brentano,  History  of  the  Origin  and  Development  of  Guilds,  p.  lxxii. 

2  Brentano,  op.  tit.  3  Mallet,  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  197. 

*  Necessitated  at  times,  no  doubt,  by  the  uncertainties  of  civil  government. 
See  Heinecci,  Anliquitates  Germanicae,  Tome  II.,  cap.  vi.,  p.  372. 
6  Wilda,  Das  Gilden  Wesen  des  Miltelalters,  p.  33. 

6  With  rare  exceptions,  all  the  older  guildic  returns  made  to  the  British 
Parliament  in  the  fourteenth  century  begin  in  the  above  formal  way.  Con- 
sult Smith,  English  Guilds,  and  Hughan,  Old  Masonic  Charges. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


399 


It  is  impossible  to  deny  that  mediaeval  guilds,  and 
among  these  the  body  of  Freemasons,  were  not  under  the 
direct  patronage  of  the  church,  and  also  controlled,  more 
or  less,  arbitrarily  by  the  clergy.  Priestcraft  and  sacer- 
dotal influence  may  be  found  in  every  guild ic  document 
which  has  escaped  interpolation  and  the  zeal  of  enthusi- 
astic theorists.  Until,  in  its  ceaseless  changes,  the  human 
soul  had  boldly  dared  to  eschew  shocking  dogmas,  each 
association  of  tradesmen,  merchants,  or  artisans  maintained 
a  salaried  priest,1  who  sometimes  accompanied  the  corpo- 
rate brethren  in  distant  lands.2  By  the  decree  of  King 
Olaf,  the  celebration  and  festivities  of  these  bodies  were 
transferred  from  the  rural  provinces  to  larger  towns  of  the 
realm,  and  Henry,  prince  of  the  eastern  march  of  Ger- 
many, at  an  earlier  period,  ordered  the  same  change  from 
country  to  the  cities:  In  the  city  of  Strassburg,  the  free- 
men were  able  to  trace  a  formal  union  as  far  back  as  the 
ninth  century,3  as  an  organization  to  protect  their  existing 
freedom  from  episcopal  encroachments. 

These  sodalities,  therefore,  during  the  eighth,  ninth, 
and  tenth  centuries,  had  assumed  a  well-settled  relation 
to  the  municipal  polity  of  various  European  governments. 
According  to  the  conjecture  of  Brentano,4  their  civil  con- 
stitutions were  not  only  completed,  but  so  widespread 
had  the  guilds  extended  among  the  Anglo-Saxons,  that 
the  ordinances  of  these  corporations  were  sanctioned  and 
imitated  in  legislation. 

In  England  and  on  the  Continent,  the  guilds  enjoyed 
such  favor  that  non-members  were  obligated  to  conform 
to  established  customs,  and  communal  constitutions  were 


1  Designated  as  chaplains.    Smith,  op.  cit.,  pp.  29,  139. 

2  By  an  ordinance  of  the  twelfth  century,  professedly  drawn  up  from  one 
more  ancient,  a  priest  travelled  from  the  North  German  provinces,  with  a 
mercantile  guild,  to  Novgorod,  twice  each  year.  Behrmann,  De  Skra  van 
Nougarden,  p.  92,  Art.  8. 

3  Wilda,  op.  cit.,  p.  205.  *  History  of  the  Develop,  of  Guilds,  lxxvi. 


400 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


developed  from  them.  Associations  thus  early  were 
formed  for  mutual  protection  in  case  of  robbery,  confla- 
grations, or  shipwreck,  and  brethren  united  for  such  pur- 
pose contributed  annual  dues  at  a  certain  period,  usually 
on  a  saint's  day,  when  general  consultations  were  held  and 
gorgeous  celebration  of  divine  services,  joyous  festivities, 
and  a  grand  feast  prepared  for  the  members.  In  order  to 
unite  the  associates  more  firmly  among  themselves,  who, 
it  seems,  sought  to  be  relieved  of  reciprocal  duties  inci- 
dent to  the  union,  the  usage  was  carefully  maintained  of 
administering  to  each  one  an  oath.  Conjuratio,1  appears  to 
have  been  the  usual  appellation  for  a  guild  so  organized. 

Whenever  the  initiate  was  sworn,  in  order  to  give  addi- 
tional solemnity  to  the  obligation,  the  patron  saint  under 
whose  protection  the  fraternity  existed  was  also  invoked. 
A  like  custom  has  come  down  to  modern  Freemasons,  who 
dedicate  their  sacred  vows  to  the  Saints  John. 

In  a  capitulary  of  Charlemagne,  promulgated  in  the  year 
789,  it  was  forbidden  members  of  secret  societies  to 
indulge  in  the  vice  of  inebriety,  and  those  conjurations  in 
which  oaths  were  exacted,  under  the  invocation  of  Saint 
Stephen  or  others,  were  specifically  interdicted.2  The 
juxtaposition  of  ebrietas  and  conjuratio  in  the  original 
decree,  attests  that  the  habits  of  intemperance  charged  to 
their  ancestors  were  followed  with  filial  zeal  by  their 


1  Juratorura  conventus ;  jurati  enim  et  conjurati,  diciunter  civis  unius  op- 
pidi.  Du  Cange,  Gloss.  Med.  et  Infi.  Latinat.  v.  Conjuratus.  Sometimes  called 
sworn  brotherhoods,  and  expressly  declared  to  be  composed  of  clergy  and 
laymen.  Fratres  conjurati ;  qui  conjurati  sodales  diciuntur.  Fratreia,  sunt 
quidem  tarn  clerici  quam  lai'ci,  hujusmodi  societatem  ineuntes,  ut  de  caetero 
in  quibuslibet  causisvel  negotiis  mutum  sibi  praestant  auxilium.  Du  Cange, 
op.  cit.y  voce,  Fratreia. 

2  Omnino  prohibendum  est  omnibus  ebrietatis  malum.  Et  istas  conjura- 
tiones  quas  faciunt  per  sanctum  Stephanum  aut  per  nos,  aut  per  filios  nostras, 
prohibemus.  Baluz.,  Capitular.  Reg.  Francor.,  Tome  I.,  p.  244.  Vide  Du 
Cange,  op.  cit.,  voce  Conjuratio;  also,  Wilda,  Das  Oilden  Wesen  im  Mittelalter, 
p.  37. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


401 


descendants.  Towards  the  close  of  the  eighth  century, 
oath-bound  societies  had  become  so  numerous  and  extended 
in  the  German  empire,  that  a  series  of  imperial  edicts 
was  enacted  by  Charlemagne  and  his  successors  to  extir- 
pate or  reduce  them  within  less  objectionable  limitations. 
Particular  penalties  were  adjudged  against  those  who 
persisted  in  membership  with  sworn  corporations  —  such 
penalties,  for  instance,  as  nose-slitting,  and  banishment. 
^N~o  unions  were  to  be  tolerated  except  those  fo'r  a  strictly 
beneficial  object,  and  assistance  in  casualties  by  fire,  loss 
of  property  on  land  or  by  water,  and  under  no  circum- 
stances should  the  beneficiaries  be  bound  by  oaths.1 

Under  Louis  le  Debonnaire,  guilds  were  even  instituted 
among  the  serfs  of  Flanders,  Menpiscus,  and  other  mari- 
time towns,  which  the  nobility  were  ordered  to  disband 
under  penalty  of  punishment  themselves.2  If  it  be  con- 
ceded that  the  Consilium  Namnetense  was  held  as  early  as 
the  year  658  or  660,  and  not  in  the  year  800,  it  is  manifest 
that  regularly  organized  sodalities  were  existing  in  the 
Frankish  kingdom  for  two  centuries  preceding  the  Em- 
peror Charlemagne,  because  this  council  endeavored  to 
confine  within  more  narrow  limits  these  associations 
which  were  thus  denominated :  collectae  vel  confratra- 
triae  quos  consortia  vocant." 3  This  restraining  eccle- 
siastical statute  was  decreed  in  order  to  check  the  gluttony 
which  prevailed  at  these  fraternal  banquets,  and  also  to 
modify  Paganistic  customs  transmitted  to  them  by  their 
predecessors,  the  heathen  guilds.4 


1  Published  under  the  title :  Ut  sacramentum  pro  gildonia  non  fiat.  Baluzius, 
Capitular.  Reg.  Francor.,  Tome  I.,  p.  198. 

2  Brentano,  Hist,  of  the  Origin  and  Develop,  of  Guilds,  p.  lxxvi.,  and  Wilda, 
Oilden  Wesen,  p.  39. 

3  Wilda,  op.  cit. 

*  "  The  forbiddance  of  guilds  in  the  Frankish  empire  could  also  be  justified 
from  religious  motives,  in  consequence  of  the  gluttony  and  Pagan  customs 
always  associated  with  them,:'    Brentano,  op.  cit.,  lxxix. 
34*  2A 


402 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


Charlemagne  was  necessitated  to  issue  severe  edicts 
throughout  the  various  provinces  of  his  vast  empire,  in 
order  to  change  the  excessive  Pagan  tendencies  of  newly 
converted  nations,  and  to  mould  them  into  such  uniformity 
as  harmonized  with  the  policy  of  the  Romish  church  and 
his  own  plans.  In  the  year  773  the  Longobardic  dominion 
in  Italy  was  terminated  by  the  victorious  armies  of 
the  Carlovingian  king.  To  this  victory  the  Pontiff  of 
Rome  mainly  contributed  by  ecclesiastical  influence  over 
many  districts  through  which  the  emperor  passed  with  his 
troops.1 

In  conjunction  with  the  pontifical  authorities,  Charle- 
magne digested  and  published  a  code  of  laws  for  the  con- 
quered Longobards.  This  body  of  imperial  and  ecclesias- 
tical legislation  was  issued  six  years  after  the  events 
narrated,  viz.,  in  the  year  779.  Among  these  laws  the 
following  prohibition  appears  :  De  sacramentis  pro 
gildonia  invicem  conjurantibus,  ut  nemo  facere  praesumat. 
Alio  vero  modo  de  eorum  eleemosynis,  aut  de  incendio, 
aut  de  naufragis  quamvis  convenientiam  faciant,  nemo 
in  hoc  jurare  praesumat.2  From  this  it  is  certain  that 
guilds  for  mutual  assistance  and  protection  had  long 
existed  among  the  Longobards,  and  were  in  all  respects 
similar  to  those  which  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  powers 
were  endeavoring  to  modify  into  such  form  as  would 
render  them  more  controllable.  The  preceding  quotation 
clearly  attests  that  the  vanquished  Lombards  had  perpet- 
uated in  the  conquered  Italian  provinces,  and  under  a  new 
social  system,  the  elements  of  Paganism  which  belonged 
to  the  old  Germanic  constitution,  and  also  that  these 
guilds,  closely  united  by  oaths,  had  for  their  object  mutual 
aid  arising  from  misfortune,  poverty,  and  indigence,  by 
pious  (eleemosynis)  contributions,  to  the  relief  of  which 

1  Wirth,  Geschichte  der  Deutschen,  Bd.  I.,  p.  485. 

2  Baluzius,  Capitular.  Regum  Francorurn,  p.  198 ;  also,  Wilda,  Das  Gilden 
Wesen  im  Mittelalter,  p.  40. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


403 


guildic  members  had  bound  themselves  by  solemn  vows.1 
The  direct  object  of  the  capitulary  cited,  was  the  evident 
essential  alteration  within  these  associations  of  such 
Pagan  rites  as  were  still  celebrated  in  honor  of  the 
divinities  of  Asgard,  and  the  eradication  from  these  fra- 
ternities of  those  allusions  which  involved  a  corporate 
recognition  of  Odin,  Thor,  and  Frey.2 

This  legislation  appears  to  have  succeeded  so  far  as  to 
induce  the  clergy  of  that  distant  epoch  to  obtain  control 
of  the  element  composing  these  societies,  and  affiliating 
the  laity  with  them,  who  became  proportionate  contrib- 
utors for  offerings,  and  assisted  at  the  masses  rehearsed 
for  the  souls  of  deceased  brethren.  Lay  members  were 
admitted  to  share  in  the  monthly  and  annual  festivals  of 
the  guilds.  This  extension  of  the  original  purpose  of 
these  fraternities  arose  from  the  numerous  filiations  by 
the  people  of  secular  society  into  clerical  brotherhoods.3 
Although  subsequent  religious  principles  of  guilds  indi- 
cate sacerdotal  influence  in  their  creation  or  perpetuation, 
the  final  development  of  the  sodalities  during  the  tenth 
and  twelfth  centuries  was  so  far  completed  that  the  control 
of  them  passed  from  the  church.4  Hence  the  struggle 
which  arose  between  these  bodies  and  the  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical authorities  for  supremacy,  in  order  to  repress  them 
within  their  original  proportions.  But  the  spirit  had 
gone  forth  and  could  no  longer  be  restrained.  A  supineness 
readily  granted  while  the  conditions  of  earlier  society 
remained  unaltered,  could  not  be  expected  wThen  the 


1  Vide  Wilda,  op.  eit. 

2  The  Indiculus  Superstit.  et  Paganiar.,  decreed  in  the  year  741,  furnishes  the 
list  of  forbidden  usages. 

3  Wilda,  Das  Oilden  Wesen  im  Mittelalter,  p.  37. 

4  Wilda,  op.  cit.}  p.  42.  Artificers  of  different  kinds  are  frequently  men- 
tioned by  the  oldest  Teutonic  laws,  which  appear  to  have  made  certain  ex- 
emptions in  their  behalf.  Heinecci,  Antiquitates  Germanicae,  Tome  II.,  Pars. 
1,  p.  372.    Carpentaria  in  the  Salic  law.    Lex.  Salica.,  Tit.  XI.,  §  v. 


404 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


phases  of  civil  life  had  changed  to  such  extent  as  required 
a  persistent  and  earnest  effort  to  resist  the  encroachments 
of  the  feudal  system,  and  the  unifying  tendencies  of  the 
Romish  church.  At  this  epoch  protective  guilds  developed 
with  marvellous  rapidity.  In  England  the  conjuratio,  the 
most  important  form  of  association,  can  be  traced  to  a 
period  anterior  to  the  invasion,  in  the  ninth  and  tenth 
centuries.1  The  statute  of  such  a  guild  at  Cambridge 
throws  much  light  upon  the  internal  construction  of  these 
sodalities.2  It  is  called  thegna-gilde  or  granta-bryga. 
The  chief  elements  of  this  oath-bound  society  are  as  fol- 
lows: Members  shall  swear  on  the  reliques  (holy-dome  of 
the  mediaeval  Masons)  that  they  will  help,  aid,  and  assist 
each  other,  both  in  spiritual  and  in  secular  matters,  and 
that  the  corporation  itself  shall  sustain  the  personal  diffi- 
culties of  brethren  who  have  justice  with  them. 

Tradespeople,  or  craftsmen,  were  associated  together  for 
the  purpose  of  protecting  their  labor,  at  a  very  early  age. 
In  the  fifth  century  the  history  of  St.  Ampelius,  according 
to  Lacroix,3  mentions  master  locksmiths.  The  corporation 
of  goldsmiths  ascends  to  the  first  race  of  Frankish  kings.4 
Guilds  of  bakers  are  named  in  the  ordinances  of  Dagobert, 
which  indicates  a  regular  organization  in  the  year  630.5 
In  Lombardy,  on  the  22d  of  November,  in  the  year  643,6 
an  edict  of  King  Rotharis  was  promulgated,  which  ex- 
pressly mentions  the  colleges  of  builders  and  their  masters 
as  magistri  comacini.7  Luitprand,  the  Longobardic  ruler, 
in  the  year  729,8  by  his  rescripts,  recognized  this  corpora- 

1  Wilda,  ut  supra,  p.  43.  '2  Hickesii,  Thesaurus,  Tome  III.,  p.  21. 

3  Les  Moeurs  et  Usages  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  296. 

4  Lacroix,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  p.  161. 

6  Les  boulangers  sont  nommes  collectivement  en  630  dans  les  ordonnances 
de  Dagobert.    Lacroix,  Les  Moeurs  et  Usages,  p.  296. 
6  Merkel,  Die  Geschichte  des  Longobardtnrecht,  p.  17. 

%  Si  magister  comacinus  cum  collegantes  suos  cujuscumque  domum  restau- 
randam  vel  fabrigandam  super  se,  etc.    Leg.  Rothans.,  cap.  cxliii. 
8  Merkel,  op.  cit.f  p.  18. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  405 


tion  of  artificers,  and  regulated  their  wages  of  corn  and 
wine,  etc.1 

Ravenna,  in  the  year  943,  presents  historical  evidence  of 
the  existence  of  an  association  of  fishermen,  and  ten  years 
afterwards  the  annals  of  that  city  show  a  regularly  or- 
ganized guild  of  merchants.2  Oath-hound  societies  had 
never  disappeared  from  the  Teutonic  governments,  but 
preserved  an  unbroken  integrity  through  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  orders  of  chivalry,  with  which  the  Romish  hierarchy 
endeavored  unsuccessfully  to  propagate  the  doctrines  of 
Christ,  were  based  upon  ancient  heathen  guilds.3  So  largely 
was  this  feature  of  the  old  Germanic  constitution  involved 
in  moulding  the  body  politic  of  those  remote  times,  that 
hunters  formed  confraternities  dedicated  to  Saint  Hubert. 

These  associations  had  an  accurately-defined  rank  in 
public  processions,  initiated  members  into  the  mysteries 
of  a  secret  ritualism,  and  taught  them  the  signification 
of  a  mystic  language.  They  also  had  lucky  and  unlucky 
members,  symbolic  colors,  etc.,  while  the  initiates  used 
particular  signs  of  recognition.4 

The  existence  of  guildic  fraternities  among  Teutonic 
victors  of  Northern  Italy,  and  especially  the  Longobardi, 
is  sufficiently  attested  by  the  several  capitularies  of  Charle- 
magne, issued,  evidently,  to  restrict  their  too  universal 
development  with  the  conquered  nations.  From  the  edicts 
of  Rotharis,  already  quoted,  it  is  manifest  that  colleges  of 
constructors  were  regularly  organized  nearly  a  century  and 
a  half  prior  to  the  termination  of  the  Lombardic  rule  by 
the  Carlovingian  king,  and  that  these  artificers,  as  pre- 


1  Edictum  Luitpr.  Reg.,  cap.  clvii.,  Be  Mercedes  Comacinorum.  Segale,  vina, 
lardo — corn,  wine,  and  lard  (oil  ?). 

2  Lacroix,  Les  Moeurs  et  Usages,  p.  296. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  52. 

*  Les  inities  usaient  entre  eux  des  signes  particuliers  de  reconnaissance, 
lis  avaient  aussi  des  nombres  heureux  et  malheureux,  des  couleurs  symbol- 
iques,  etc.    Lacroix,  Les  Moeurs  et  Usages  an  Moyen  Ace,  p.  201. 


406 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


viously  stated,  were  introduced  from  Byzantium  by  Theo- 
derich  the  Goth.  Succeeding  rulers  preserved  the  corporate 
privileges  to  which  they  were  entitled  under  the  Eoman 
law,  and  when  the  Grecian  architects  arrived  from  Con- 
stantinople they  found  these  sodalities,  particularly  under 
the  Longobardi,  possessed  of  a  formal  constitution  involv- 
ing reciprocal  oaths  of  secrecy  and  assistance,  existing  by  a 
general  ecclesiastical  and  municipal  sanction,  with  certain 
usages  and  customs  descended  from  heathen  temple  worship. 
Exercising  the  power  of  adjusting  difficulties  which  arose 
between  the  members,  and  endowed  with  judicial  authority, 
these  guilds  naturally  imitated  the  constituent  elements  of 
which  Gothic  courts  were  composed.  Perhaps  to  this 
cause  may  be  attributed  the  striking  identity  between  the 
appointments  of  a  Masonic  lodge  and  the  symbolic  ap- 
pliances of  ancient  court  procedure.  These  legal  bodies 
preserved  the  formularies  used  by  the  Pagan  Northmen  in 
the  administration  of  justice. 

Old  Teutonic  courts  were  a  counterpart  of  such  heathen 
symbols  and  ceremonies  as  the  priesthood  manipulated  in 
the  celebration  of  religious  services.  When,  therefore,  the 
junction  occurred  which  united  the  Gothic  and  Jewish 
elements  of  Freemasonry,  by  the  merging  of  the  Byzantine 
art  corporations  into  the  Germanic  guilds  in  Italy,  the 
Norsemen  contributed  the  name  and  orientation,  oaths, 
dedication  of  the  lodge,  opening  and  closing  colloquies, 
Master's  mallet  and  columns,  and  the  lights  and  installation 
ceremonies.  On  the  other  hand,  Judaistic  admixture  is 
equally  well  denned.  From  this  source  Masonry  received 
the  omnific  word,  or  the  faculty  of  Abrac  and  ritualism, 
including  the  Hiramic  legend. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 


Jewish  Traditions  Contributed  to  Gothic  Sodalities  —  The  Hi- 
ramic  Legend— His  Assassination  —  The  Mallet — Identical 
with  the  Norse  God  Baldur  —  The  Lost  Word  —  The  Search 
for  the  Slain  —  Twelve  Companions  —  Twelve  Scandinavian 
Gods  —  Number  for  a  Lodge  —  The  Legends  Typify  the  Sun  God 
—  Hammer  as  an  Emblem  of  Death  —  Celebration  of  Life, 
Death,  and  Burial,  in  Guilds  —  Symbolism  of  Immortality  and 
Resurrection  —  Teutonic  Mysteries. 

ANY  points  of  identity  existed  between  the 
Teutonic  symbolism  and  Israel itish  emblems, 
which  powerfully  aided  to  unite  the  two  sys- 
tems. The  traditions  of  the  Northern  deity, 
Baldur,  seemingly  furnished  the  substantial  foundation 
for  the  introduction  of  the  legend  of  Hiram,  the  oldesfc 
form  of  which  is  presented  in  an  authentic  shape  by  Ander- 
son,1 and  is  substantially  as  follows  :2  At  the  building  of 
King  Solomon's  temple  Hiram  was  superintending  archi- 
tect. Three  craftsmen,  having  determined  to  secure  the 
Master's  word  from  him  at  all  hazards,  placed  themselves 
at  the  three  principal  entrances  to  the  edifice,  in  order  to 
waylay  the  illustrious  builder.  His  fidelity  caused  him 
to  be  assassinated  with  a  mallet.    A  search  was  made  for 

1  Lecture  on  the  Third  Degree. 

2  With  this  tradition,  as  given  by  Anderson,  the  esoteric  lecture  on  Hiram, 
and  prepared  in  strict  accordance  with  ancient  landmarks  by  the  Grand  Orient 
of  France,  in  1801,  agrees  entirely.  Begulateur  du  Macon  (3leme  Grad.),  p.  18, 
et  seq. 

407 


408 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


his  remains  by  a  party  traversing  towards  each  of  the 
cardinal  points,  who  discovered  Hiram's  tomb.  It  is  then 
added  that  this  artisan  was  brought  from  his  grave,  "  as  all 
other  Masons  when  they  receive  the  Master's  word." 

The  twelve  companions  of  Master  Hiram  correspond  un- 
questionably to  the  twelve  zodiacal  signs,  or  the  twelve 
months  of  the  year.  As  we  shall  presently  see,  the  ground- 
work of  this  tradition  is  a  fragment  of  ancient  natural 
religion,  common  to  both  Oriental  and  European  nations, 
or,  more  property,  was  derived  from  identical  sources.  The 
three  treacherous  craftsmen  of  Hiram  the  Good  are  the 
three  winter  months,  which  slew  him.  He  is  the  sun, 
surviving  during  the  eleven  consecutive  months,  but  sub- 
jected to  the  irresistible  power  of  three  ruffians,  the  winter 
months  ;  in  the  twelfth  and  last  month,  that  luminary, 
Hiram,  the  good,  the  beauteous,  the  bright,  the  sun  god,  is 
extinguished.1 

Baldur,  the  second  son  of  Odin,  occupies,  in  the  North- 
ern mythology,  a  place  similar  to  Hiram  the  builder  in 
Masonic  traditions.  Of  so  fair  aspect  and  so  radiant, 
he  is  a  synonym  of  light  and  beauty.2  On  his  life  de- 
pended the  active  vitality  of  the  gods  of  Asgard,  as 
upon  the  existence  of  the  master  architect  rested  the 
completion  of  Solomon's  temple  —  a  type  of  the  universe. 
Baldur  was  also  named  the  great  and  good.3  Hiram  and 
Baldur  were  equally  slain  by  treachery  and  fraud.  A 
mallet  was  the  instrument  which  killed  the  builder ;  the 
mistletoe  caused  the  Northern  deity's  death.  In  both 
catastrophes,  sorrow  and  lamentation  prevailed  among 
their  associated  brethren.  A  search  was  instituted  to  find 
Baldur,  the  Norse  god,  similar  to  that  made  for  the  re- 
covery of  Hiram. 

1  Schauberg,  Symbolik  der  Freimaurerei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  153. 

2  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  22 ;  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologk, 
p.  281. 

3  Thorpe,  op.  tit.,  p.  185  ;  Mallet,  Northern  Antiq.,  p.  446  ;  Gylfaginning,  c.  49. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


409 


In  the  Northern  mythology,  the  death  of  the  loved  deity 
afflicted  Odin  the  Wise  most  deeply,  because  he  saw  how 
much  the  sesir  or  gods  would  lose  by  this  misfortune.1 
Solomon  the  Wise  also  bewailed  the  loss  of  Hiram,  because 
he  knew  that  the  vital  and  principal  support  of  his  typical 
universe  had  fallen  by  the  master's  assassination,  and  that, 
in  consequence  of  this  event,  the  true  word  had  been  lost. 
Baldur  is,  as  almost  all  antiquaries  have  admitted,  the 
warm  sunshine,  the  brightness  of  light,  the  joy  of  exist- 
ence. Beauty  and  goodness  are  the  fundamental  ideas 
contained  in  the  uame.2  By  his  death,  the  light  of  earth 
is  replaced  by  darkness.  His  mother,  the  fruitful  soil, 
like  the  companions  of  Hiram,  mourns ;  all  beings  shed 
tears,  and  nature  is  filled  with  sighs,3  typifying  the  three 
last  months  of  the  year,  or  the  assassins  of  the  temple 
builder.  Although  in  each  instance  the  heroic  dead  was 
found,  there  existed  no  power  sufficient  to  restore  the  de- 
funct to  life. 

The  lamentations  of  the  Jewish  king  over  the  unresur- 
rected  body  of  his  architect,  the  ineffectual  attempts  to 
withdraw  it  from  a  temporary  resting-place,  and  final 
success  by  the  symbolic  use  of  Judah's  lion,  evinced  that 
one  thing  alone  was  wanting  to  revive  the  illustrious 
Tyrian.  Odin  dispatched  Hermod  to  Hela4  in  search  of 
Baldur,  and  found  him.  "The  messenger  besought  the 
inexorable  goddess  of  hell  to  allow  the  assassinated  deity 
to  return  with  him,  and  represented  the  grief  of  the  gods 
for  his  loss.  Hela  answered  that  it  would  now  appear 
how  much  the  murdered  hero  was  beloved,  and  promised 
if  everything  in  the  world,  both  living  and  dead,  would 
bewail  his  loss,  he  should  be  restored  to  the  celestial 

1  Gylfaginning,  loc.  cit. 

2  Ibid.,  loc.  cit. ;  Thorpe,  op.  cit.,  p.  185 ;  Simrock,  ut  supra,  \  34,  p.  281. 

3  Thorpe,  op.  cit.,  p.  185. 

4  Death  or  place  of  departed  spirits ;  hence  English  word  hell.  The  ancient 
curse  was  Far  til  Odhin,  or  Hela. 

35 


410 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


divinities.  Thereupon  the  Odinic  deities  sent  messengers 
throughout  the  universe  to  pray  all  things,  animate  and 
inanimate,  to  weep  for  Baldur.  One  alone  refused.1  Thus, 
as  with  Hiram  Abif,  one  thing  alone  lacked  to  resurrect 
the  Norse  god. 

The  glittering  abodes  of  Asgard  had  twelve  principal 
deities,  of  whom  Baldur  was  one2 — Odin,  or  the  father 
of  all,  made  the  thirteenth,  or,  perhaps,  the  celestial 
deities  are  the  representatives  of  essential  principles 
which  he  possessed.  The  numeral  twelve  ramified  exten- 
sively through  the  Scandinavian  mythology,  and  occurs 
so  frequently  in  the  popular  traditions  of  the  Middle  Ages 
as  to  induce  the  belief  that  its  mystical  significance  was 
immediately  derived  from  ancient  Teutonic  religious  cul- 
ture. Hiram's  twelve  associate  craftsmen  correspond  in 
numbers  to  the  companion  deities  of  Baldur  in  the  bright 
halls  of  Asgard.3  The  zodiacal  signs,  or  the  monthly 
divisions  of  the  year,  are  to  be  found  in  Scandinavian 
cosmogony.4 

Germanic  legends  and  heroic  romances  use  this  number 
as  a  norm,  so  well  distinguished  as  to  leave  no  doubt 
touching  a  mythological  derivation.  For  instance,  a  Dane 
received  as  a  favor  from  an  Elf  the  prowess  and  thirst  of 
twelve  men. 

In  Norwegian  sagas,  a  knight  appears,  whose  horse,  in 
twelve  strides,  passes  over  the  sun's  course.  Twelve 
streams  of  cold  or  turbulent  water  flow  out  into  the  vacant 
universe.  A  like  number  composed  an  ancient  court  of 
marches ; 5  twelve  boys  are  mentioned  as  a  significant 

1  Simrock.  Deutsche  Mythologie,  \  33 ;  Gylfaginning,  Str.  49. 

2  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  p.  5 ;  Simrock,  op.  cil.,  p.  281. 

3  For  legendary  account  of  the  twelve  companions  of  Joseph  of  Ariraathea, 
vide  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Architecture,  p.  4. 

4  Aliquis  intra  XII.  menses  nullus  testatus,  etc.  Pactus  Legis  Salic,  Tit. 
XLVIIL,  cap.  2. 

5  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alter thiimer,  p.  217.  See,  however,  Maurer,  (?e- 
schichte  der  Markenver/assung,  \  11. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  411 


number  in  the  Ripariorum  law.1  By  the  laws  of  Rotharis. 
a  respite  of  twelve  nights  was  accorded  under  certain  cir- 
cumstances.2 In  the  Teutonic  Red  Rose  Tales,  twelve 
fairies  are  beneficent,  and  the  thirteenth  malevolent.3 
Twelve  cats  of  uncertain  age  are  domiciled  in  the  Hartz- 
berg,  and  in  Troutberg,  in  the  palatinate,  Charlemagne 
sits  surrounded  with  his  twelve  famous  paladins.  Wine 
cellars,  in  a  dilapidated  edifice  at  Reichau,  and  at  Trigtis 
in  Saxony,  according  to  popular  tradition,  contain  twelve 
casks.4  In  the  German  Hero  Book5  of  Rosen-Garden, 
King  Gibich  placed  his  daughter  Chrimhild  at  Worms, 
under  the  surveillance  of  twelve  knights,  among  whom 
Siegfried  was  preeminent.  Twelve  Nuremberg  masters 
sing  in  rivalry  within  the  radiant  rose  garden. 

According  to  a  Bavarian  legend,  twelve  men  sit  around 
a  golden  bowl  in  the  castle  of  Hochberg.  In  the  Windeck 
fortress,  a  huntsman  was  obliged  to  play  the  music  for  a 
company  of  twelve  knights  and  their  ladies  to  dance  by. 
A  Hessian  tale  relates  that  a  lad,  with  twelve  virgins, 
sailed  at  night  to  enchanted  realms,  where  the  maidens 
merrily  danced  with  an  equal  number  of  princes  until 
their  shoes  were  worn  through.6  This  legend  is  inter- 
preted by  Menzel7  to  signify  the  twelve  months  of  the 
expiring  year.  Illustrious  Swabian  families  deduce  their 
origin  from  twelve  deities.  The  Frisians  in  Zealand  have 
twelve  judges,  who  administer  justice  in  their  courts. 


1  Cum  duodecim  ad  locum  traditionis  pueris.  Lex  Ripariorum,  LX.,  cap.  1. 
This  evidently  refers  to  the  old  custom  of  striking  boys  in  the  mouth  or  on 
the  ears,  to  impress  their  minds  with  certain  legal  formalities. 

2  Edictum  Rothar.  Regis.,  cap.  ccclxi. 

3  Full  information  touching  mystical  use  of  numeral  twelve  in  Simrock,  op. 
tit.,  pp.  150-4,  191,  364,  485. 

*  Schauberg,  Symbolik  der  Freimaurerei,  Bd.  L,  p.  131. 

5  Das  Kleine  Heldenbuch,  6  AbenL,  and  Ludlow,  Popular  Epics  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  Vol.  I.,  p.  282. 

6  Schauberg,  op.  tit.,  p.  131. 
"  Odin,  p.  204. 


412 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


British  legends  assign  twelve  invincible  paladins  to  King 
Arthur.1 

From  the  answer  returned  by  an  initiate  craftsman  to 
the  Master's  question,  propounded  in  the  early  part  of  the 
last  century,  it  is  evident  that  monthly  divisions  of  the 
year  suggested  the  response,  which  was  as  follows : 

u31as.  Why  should  eleven  make  a  lodge,  Brother? 

"Ans.  There  were  eleven  patriarchs  when  Joseph  was 
sold  into  Egypt  and  supposed  to  be  lost. 

"Mas.  The  second  reason,  Brother  ? 

"Ans.  There  were  but  eleven  apostles  when  Judas  had 
betrayed  Christ."2 

The  eleven  brethren  who  had  sold  Joseph,  the  twelfth, 
into  Egyptian  bondage ;  Judas,  the  twelfth  apostle,  who 
treacherously  delivered  his  Master,  leaving  eleven  sorrow- 
ing comrades  behind  him  ;  Balclur,  the  twelfth  god  of 
Asgard,  slain  by  treachery  and  fraud,  lamented  by  his 
eleven  associate  deities  as  an  irreparable  loss,  and  Hi- 
ram the  builder,  assassinated  by  cowardly  craftsmen,  are 
grounded  upon  one  and  the  same  mythological  notion.  They 
are  merely  typical  expressions  of  death,  symbolized  in  the 
Teutonic  and  Oriental  cosmogony  of  very  early  ages  by  the 
sun  or  light  god.  Also,  the  lost  word  and  its  recovery ; 
the  resurrected  Hiram,  as  emblematized  in  the  acacia ; 
Joseph  the  unknown,  when  recognized  by  his  brothers  as 
richly  endowed  ;  Baldur  the  good,  lost  to  the  Odinic  deities, 
of  whose  tragical  death  the  mistletoe  was  a  symbol,  are 
substantially  the  ever-recurring  prototypes  of  the  changing 
powers  of  the  day  luminary,  and  the  resistless  rejuvenation 
of  nature ;  the  immortality  of  divinity  and  of  man ;  the 


1  Turner,  History  of  the  Anglo- Saxons,  Bk.  II.,  Appendix;  Schauberg,  Sym- 
bolik  der  Freimaurerei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  132.  Vide  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthw- 
mer,  p.  217,  for  the  legal  significance  of  the  number  12.  In  the  Eddaic  songs, 
this  numeral  is  often  used  in  a  mystical  sense.  Helreidh.,  Str.  6,  and  Gylfa- 
ginning,  cap.  20. 

2  Krause,  Die  Drei  cdtesten  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  I.,  Abt.  1,  p.  209. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


413 


eternal  perpetuation  of  divine-human  spirituality  and  an 
emblem  of  celestial  strength  and  power.  Besides  this, 
the  signification  extends  further  and  deeper  into  a  purely 
mythological  origin.  An  attestation  of  this  can  be  gleaned 
from  the  answer  quoted  above,  which  declares  that  eleven 
members  may  compose  a  lodge ;  these  are  the  eleven 
months  during  which  the  sun  flashes  forth  in  the  brilliancy 
of  its  vital  forces,  and  at  last,  in  the  twelfth  month,  sinks 
away  and  is  extinguished  they  are  also  the  eleven  brothers 
who  first  betrayed  and  then  sold  Joseph  ;  they  are  the 
eleven  disciples  of  Christ,  or  the  eleven  associate  deities  of 
Baldur ;  they  are  the  companions  of  Hiram.  In  a  word, 
these  portray  the  gradual  decay  of  life,  its  final  extinction 
and  essential  immortality.  There  is  another  and  important 
point  of  identity  between  the  legends  of  Baldur  and  Hiram. 

The  instrument  which  slew  the  Tyrian  artificer  was  a 
mallet  or  setting  maul.  In  addition  to  the  typical  powers 
with  which  it  is  invested  in  the  Master's  hand,  it  is  also,  in 
lodge  ritual,  a  symbol  of  death  and  associated  with  funereal 
furniture.  It  has  become  emblematic  of  Hiram's  death. 
When  the  Scandinavian  gods  had  borne  the  body  of  assassi- 
nated Baldur  to  the  funeral  pyre  on  board  his  ship,  lying 
beside  the  sea-shore,2  Thor  arose  and  consecrated  the  burn- 
ing pile  with  his  hammer,  the  potent  Miolner.3  In  heathen 
times  a  hammer  was  always  used  to  hallow  the  cremation 
rites  performed  over  the  dead  before  being  reduced  to 
ashes,4  a  custom  which  was  suffered  to  exist  by  early 
Christian  evangelists.  Frequently  this  emblem  was  buried 
with  the  body.5  The  symbols,  therefore,  in  both  the  Hira- 
mic  and  Baldur  traditions,  are  of  an  exact  significance. 


1  Schauberg,  Symbolik  der  Freimaurerei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  133. 

2  This  singular  custom  of  launching  the  corpse  upon  the  uncertain  waters 
of  a  boundless  sea  is  alluded  to  in  Beowolf,  Anglo-Saxon  Poems,  Str.  70,  etseq. 

3  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  \  33 ;  Gylfaginning,  Str.  49. 
*  Geijer,  History  of  Sweden,  p.  31.    Vide  supra,  c.  xxvi. 

5  Geijer,  op.  tit.,  p.  31. 
35* 


414 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


As  the  weapon  which  ended  the  life  of  the  master  builder, 
the  maul  typifies  death. 

From  the  consecration  by  Thor  of  the  Norse  deity's  pyre 
with  his  mallet,  the  hammer  has  descended  through  suc- 
ceeding epochs  as  a  like  mournful  symbol,  interwoven  with 
other  customs  transmitted  by  Teutonic  mythology  to  medi- 
aeval guilds,  and  by  them  transferred  to  Freemasonry. 

The  worship  and  veneration  of  Baldur  among  the  North- 
ern nations  was  widespread,  and  in  many  localities  equalled 
the  reverence  for  other  Norse  divinities.  Whether  specific 
ceremonials  were  practised  by  the  ancient  German  priest- 
hood in  commemoration  of  his  untimely  death,  including 
a  burial  accompanied  with  lamentations  and  solemn  rites, 
symbolizing  his  recovery  and  ultimate  resurrection  into  a 
"  world  of  light,"  and  whether  such  solemnities,  if  cele- 
brated at  all,  were  adopted  by  the  guilds,  cannot  be  stated 
with  satisfactory  precision. 

As  each  guildic  fraternity  was  a  prototype,  in  numer- 
ous particulars,  of  customs  grounded  on  heathen  temple 
worship,  and  especially  since  many  lodge  appointments  are 
traceable  to  the  Gothic  courts,  imitated  after  Teutonic 
sanctuaries,  it  may  be  correctly  inferred  that  the  circum- 
stances of  Baldur's  death  and  funeral,  together  with  the 
attempts  to  restore  him  to  his  previous  condition,  the 
searches  instituted  for  his  recovery,  and  particularly  that 
portion  of  Norse  mythology  which  portended  a  resurrec- 
tion, were,  on  certain  days  of  the  year,  made  the  subject 
of  a  detailed  ritualism. 

The  mediaeval  guilds  buried  their  deceased  members,  and 
with  them  a  mallet  was  evidently  inhumed.  In  the  con- 
ventual system  a  coffin  was  always  exposed  to  view  near  an 
open  grave  to  typify  death.1  At  all  events,  as  the  early 
brotherhoods  were  based  upon  the  religious  observances  of 
the  Germanic  race,  there  is  every  reason  to  assume  that 


1  Fosbroke,  British  Monachism,  pp.  80-82. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


415 


such  ceremonies,  involving  the  representation  of  death  and 
a  resurrection,  were  practised  on  fitting  occasions  by  these 
societies. 

Among  the  usages  still  existing  in  Germany,  there  is  an 
indisputable  relict  of  an  ancient  death  or  burial  service, 
combined  with  an  emblematic  exhumation.  This  custom, 
according  to  Schauberg,1  is  called  a  church  consecration 
burial  and  resurrection,  and  is  celebrated  late  in  the  fall. 
One  of  the  village  boys,  attended  by  his  companions,  is 
born  with  mock  solemnity  from  house  to  house  begging 
contributions  for  their  facetious  rites. 

Having  collected  sufficient  for  the  purpose,  a  procession 
is  formed,  which  marches,  amid  simulated  tears  and  lamen- 
tations, to  an  unfrequented  spot,  where  a  deep  opening  has 
been  hastily  prepared  in  the  earth  ;  into  this  a  male  image, 
with  a  quantity  of  refuse  matter,  is  deposited.  In  the 
vicinity  of  Hamburg,  the  mummied  lad  represents  a  person 
in  the  agony  of  death.  At  the  fancied  burial  place,  the 
straw  with  which  the  body  is  covered  is  fired,  and  the 
strange  drama  endures  amidst  uninterrupted  sorrowing  of 
assistants  and  spectators,  while  musicians  play  a  funeral 
march.  The  assemblage  then  disperses.  It  is  evident  that 
this  representation  typifies  the  burial  of  divine  life  amid 
tears  and  universal  sadness. 

The  gifts  bestowed  upon  the  mourners  and  those  who 
conduct  the  funebrial  services  are  imitated  from  the  ancient 
heathen  priests,  who,  under  similar  circumstances,  received 
gift  offerings  for  the  dead.2  After  the  lapse  of  a  few  days, 
the  buried  rubbish  is  exhumed.  Another  procession  then 
marches  to  the  locality,  where  old  and  young,  the  rich  and 
poor,  join  in  a  joyous  toast  that  the  earth-covered  material 
has  been  recovered,  and  that  ancient  joy — the  lost  word — - 
Hiram  and  Baldur,  are  found  again.3 

1  Symbolik  der  Freimaurerei,  Bd.  I.,  p.  615. 

2  Vide  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  \\  144,  145,  for  detailed  proofs  touch- 
ing the  continuance  of  heathen  customs  by  Christianized  Germany. 

ic*  '     '    %  op.  eit.  p.  621. 


416 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


The  entombed  body  typifies,  in  an  unequivocal  manner, 
the  indestructible  and  vital  forces  of  divinity,  or  of  the 
Norse  god  Baldur  and  the  Tyrian  Hiram,  whose  innate 
immortality  shall  resurrect  them. 

There  is  no  doubt,  moreover,  that  the  sacred  mysteries 
and  passion  plays,  so  frequently  acted  by  the  ecclesiastics 
of  the  Middle  Ages  on  rude  theatrical  stages,  are  the 
direct  and  lineal  descendants  of  ancient  Teutonic  or  Scan- 
dinavian life,  death,  and  burial  representations  of  a 
Northern  deity,  evidently  Baldur. 

From  whatever  standpoint  the  strange  rites  and  ceremo- 
nies above  described  may  be  regarded,  there  can  be,  it  is 
apprehended,  but  one  interpretation — that,  as  practised  by 
the  Northern  priesthood  or  people  in  a  guild ic  form  in 
commemoration  of  Baldur  or  otherwise,  they  embody  the 
essential  features  strongly  characteristic  of  the  Hiramic 
legend,  viz.,  a  symbol  of  life,  inevitable  death,  and  an 
impressive  inculcation  of  the  immortality  of  that  divine 
vitality  in  man  which  survives  earthly  dissolution. 

As  hitherto  urged,  it  was  in  harmony  with  clerical 
policy,  for  the  purpose  of  Christianizing  the  Pagan  Teu- 
tons, to  substitute  Biblical  allusions  and  martyred  saints 
for  mythological  notions  and  Norse  deities,  and  endow 
them  with  all  the  attributes  conceded  to  heathen  gods. 

It  is  also  probable  that  the  guilds  originally  introduced 
by  the  destructive  Goths  in  Northern  Italy,  and  perpet- 
uated by  victorious  Longobardi,  commemorated  the  assas- 
sination of  Baldur  with  ceremonies  similar  to  those  men- 
tioned, and,  at  the  period  of  the  merging  of  Byzantine 
corporations  into  these  sodalities,  still  retained  so  much 
of  their  heathen  rites  as  rendered  the  fusion  of  the  two 
legends  a  matter  of  little  difficulty.1 

1  The  Indiculus  Paganiar.  et  Superslit.,  and  abjuration  formula,  quoted  above, 
sufficiently  attest  the  vigorous  existence  of  Pagan  rites  performed  in  guilds 
during  the  time  that  Eastern  building  associations  were  regularly  domiciled 
in  Northern  Italy.    Vide  Baluzius,  Capitular  Regum  Francor.,  Tome  I.,  p.  150. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 


The  "  Faculty  of  Abrac  "  —  Genuineness  of  the  Henry  VI.  MSS. 

—  Derivation  of  Abrac  or  Abraxas  —  Abracadabra  :  its  Mys- 
tical Properties  —  Abraxas  Stones  and  Jehovah's  Name  —  Type 
of  Power  —  Used  as  a  Charm  —  Universal  Belief  in  Magic 
during  Middle  Ages  —  Solomon's  Temple  Built  by  the  Omnific 
Word  —  Moses  and  the  True  Name — Mediaeval  Superstition  of 
Name  Potency  —  Powers  of  the  Jehovah  —  Cabala  —  Jah,  or 
Yod,  Creates  Heaven,  etc.  —  True  Pronunciation  Lost  —  Substi- 
tute—  Abrac:  "Sacred  Name"  —  Teutonic  Notions  of  Magic 

—  Runes  —  Norse  Word  Power —  Identity  with  Jewish. 

N  the  year  1748,  a  small  pamphlet  is  said  to  have 
been  published  at  Frankfort,  in  Germany,  which, 
it  is  alleged,  was  written  by  the  hand  of  Henry 
VI.,  of  England,1  purporting  to  be  the  record  of 
an  official  investigation  into  the  principles  of  Freemasonry 
held  by  that  monarch,  or  under  his  direction.  Great 
diversity  of  opinion  obtains  among  modern  Masonic 
writers  and  authorities  as  to  the  authenticity  of  this  docu- 
ment;  the  preponderance  of  authority,  however,  asserts  its 
spuriousness. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  pamphlet,  republished  by 
Krause,2  convinces  me  that  it  is  genuine  and  entitled  to 
full  credence.  Who  the  author  was  is  uncertain,  but  it 
presents  all  the  appearance,  from  the  phraseology  and 
antique  orthography  at  least,  of  having  been  written  as 


1  Proem  to  Manuscript  Henry  VI. 

2  Die  Drei  cdtesten  Kunsturkunden,  Bd.  I.,  Abt.  1,  p.  23,  et  seq. 
2B  417 


418 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


early  as  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  tradi- 
tions of  the  fraternity  are  also  as  accurately  transmitted 
by  this  manuscript  as  by  those  which  Masonic  historians 
have  accepted  to  be  genuine.  Among  other  legends  which 
it  -contains,  is  one  that  Venetians  brought  Freemasonry 
from  the  East.1  How  closely  this  corresponds  with  the 
actual  transmission  of  architectural  art  to  the  West 
readily  appears.  Whoever  wrote  the  document  in  question 
was  profoundly  learned  in  the  secrets  possessed  by  the  craft. 

One  of  the  mysteries  the  author  asserted  to  be  concealed 
by  the  Freemasons  is  the  "  faculty  of  Abrac."  This, 
embodying  a  germinal  truth,  has  been  handed  down 
through  ages,  and  in  another  form  is  still  the  central  point 
around  which  the  organism  revolves.  It  was,  without 
doubt,  brought  into  Western  Europe,  and  transmitted, 
among  other  Oriental  elements,  to  Germanic  guilds  by 
Grecian  artificers. 

Abrac  or  Abraxas  is  a  word  used  by  the  Basilidian 
heretics  to  designate  their  supreme  god.  Mystical  and 
cabalistic  powers  were  ascribed  to  it.  Compounded  of 
the  Greek  letters,  «.  /3.  P.  «.  £.  «.  g.,  it  was  early  adopted  as 
a  charm.  Abracadabra,  derived  from  this  source,  was  also 
endowed  with  magical  potency.    When  written  in  the 

form  of  a  triangle,  thus : 

ABRACADABRA 
ABRACADABR 
ABR ACADAB 
ABR ACADA 
ABRAC AD 
ABRAC A 
ABRAC 
A  BR  A 
ABR 
AB 
A 

1  Q.  Who  dyd  brynge  ytt  Westlye? 

A.  The  Venetians,  whoo  —  corned  ffyrste  ffrome  the  Este  ynn  Venetia. 
Krause,  op.  ctf.,  p.  22. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


419 


and  suspended  about  the  neck  with  a  linen  thread,  accord- 
ing to  Serenus  Samonicus,  it  had  the  virtues  of  an 
amulet.  As  such  it  was  used  by  the  Syrians  for  purposes 
of  invocation.  Upon  abraxas  stones  this  word  was 
usually  engraven,  and  with  it  the 
name1  of  Jehovah,  Jaw  or  Jao  (Fig. 
28),  appears  oftentimes  as  early  as 
the  third  century. 

The  characters  used  were  almost 
invariably  Greek,  Hebrew,  Coptic, 
or  Hetrurian.2  Magical  studies 
were  eagerly  pursued  by  the  Ephe- 
sians;  to  such  an  extent,  indeed, 
that  their  incantations  became  pro- 
verbial, and  in  the  second  century 
the  Basilidian  abraxas  were  con- 
structed from  Ephesian  characters,  to  which  especial  and 
irresistible  magic  was  attributed.3 

The  legends  found  on  many  of  these  gems  are  of  Gnostic 
origin,4  and  since  the  doctrines  of  this  sect  were  mainly 
drawn  from  Egypt,  particularly  as  applied  to  symbolic 
inscriptions,  it  is  probable  that  the  word  abrax,  or  abrae, 
is  Egyptian  also.5 

Irenaeus  says6  that  the  schismatics  of  his  day  invested 
letters,  combined  in  certain  forms,  with  cabalistic  proper- 
ties.   Frequent  attempts  were  made  to  distort  the  name 


1  King,  The  Gnostics  and  their  Remains,  p.  81. 

2  Eacyclop&d.  Britannic,  v.  Abracadabra. 

3  Townsend,  New  Testament,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  285-6. 

4  Milman,  History  of  Christianity,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  116-7. 

6  Vide  Ennemoser,  History  of  Magic,  Vol.  I.,  p.  262.  King,  op.  cit.,  pp.  36, 
37,  whose  authority  is  Bellermann,  Drei  Programmen  ueber  die  Abraxas-gemmen, 
Berlin,  1820. 

6  Adversus  Haereses,  Lib.  I.,  p.  93.  "  Aequra  est  autem.  eos  lugeri  qui  talem 
Dei  cultem  vereq.  ineffabilis  potentiae  magnitudinem  totque  ac  tantas  Dei 
administrationas  per  Alpha  et  Beta,"  et  seq.    Ibid.,  p.  94, 

M 


420 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


of  Jesus  into  such  magical  uses.1  By  virtue  of  the  com- 
binations of  which  favorite  letters  or  numerals  were  sus- 
ceptible, some  claimed  to  have  an  absolute  control  over 
natural  laws.2  But  of  all  words  or  formulas  used  by  the 
magicians,  abraxas  was  the  most  exalted  essence  of  power, 
and  strength  and  wisdom  were  ineradically  interwoven 
with  it.3  Abraxas,  according  to  the  ancient  numeral  sys- 
tem, completed  the  number  of  365,  which,  it  was  alleged, 
corresponded  with  a  like  number  of  seons  or  angels,  each 
endowed  with  specific  powerful  attributes.4 

Some  of  the  especial  virtues  assigned  to  abrac  were  its 
irresistible  charm  to  avert  evil,  cure  fevers,  and  dispel 
diseases,  particularly  if  written  in  sbape  of  a  triad.5 

During  the  Middle  Ages,  after  the  Saracen  conquest  of 
Spain,  amulet  charms  were  much  used  in  Europe.  Magi- 
cal instruction  was  taught  in  Northern  schools  of  learning;, 
to  which  the  nobility  sent  their  children. 

One  property  ascribed  to  this  word  was  the  talismanic 
power  of  discovering  hidden  things,  and  of  subjugating 
spirits  to  the  human  will.6  Brand  says7  the  word  abraca- 
dabra, in  form  of  a  triangle  and  worn  about  the  person, 
was  regarded  by  the  people  of  his  day  as  an  invincible  pro- 
tection. In  former  ages  a  duellist  was  compelled  to  swear 
that  this  charm  was  not  in  his  personal  possession. 

The  belief  in  the  magic  power  of  certain  letters  com- 
bined under  an  invocation,  extended  throughout  Eastern 
nations  immediately  before  and  after  Christianity  had 
become  the  imperial  religion.    Although  forbidden  by  the 

1  Irenaeus,  op.  cit,  Lib.  L,  p.  86.  2  Ibid.,  Lib.  L,  p.  112. 

3  Esse  autem  principals  illorum  Abraxas  et  propter  CCCLXV.  numerorum 
haberi  in  se.  Irenaeus,  op.  cit.,  Lib.  I.,  p.  120.  Verbum,  ex  illo  sapientia  ex 
ipsis  Principatis  et  Potestatis.    Ibid.,  op.  et  loc.  cit. 

*  Mundem  in  honore  abraxae  cujus  noraen  hunc  in  se  numerum  compertuni. 
Scbolia  in  Iren.,  ad  Haereses,  Lib.  L,  p.  121.  Oftentimes  designated  "nomen 
sanctum,"  or  sacred  name.    Scholia  in  ibid.,  loc.  cit. 

6  Ennemoser,  History  of  Magic,  Vol.  L,  p.  94. 

*  Jbid.,  pp.  97,  99.  *  7  Popular  Antiquities,  Vol.  II.,  p.  579. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


421 


Mosaic  law,  incantations  were  much  in  vogue  among  the 
Jews  and  proselyte  Christians.  It  was  through  the  agency 
of  the  omnific  word  that  the  Hebrews  ascribed  the  success 
achieved  by  Solomon  in  building  the  temple  at  Jerusalem.1 
The  Egyptians  freely  practised  magic  science,  and  professed 
to  accomplish  miracles  by  means  of  certain  characters.2 
From  whatever  source  derived,  the  Israelites  were  not 
behind  their  masters  alone;  the  Nile  in  investing  resistless 
potency  to  the  name  of  their  deity. 

It  was  firmly  believed  by  the  Jews  that  peculiar  arrange- 
ment of  the  letters  composing  the  word  was  all-powerful 
and  profound  in  mystical  lore.3  Moses,  it  was  asserted, 
could  not  have  performed  all  the  miracles  which  astounded 
the  wizards  of  Egypt  without  the  name  Schemhamphorasch, 
or  Jehovah.4 

Jews,  in  the  time  of  Christ,  boldly  charged  that  the 
wonder  workings  of  our  Saviour  were  accomplished  by 
means  of  the  sacred  word  or  name.5 

Josephus  Gecatilias,  a  cabalistic  writer,6  says,  in  ex- 
horting his  readers  against  an  illicit  use  of  the  divine 


1  Townsend,  New  Testament,  Vol.  I.,  p.  285. 

2  Imagunculis  forte  et  characteribus  jam  tunc  multa  tributa  sunt.  Bruck- 
erius,  Instil.  Historiae  Philosophae,  Lib.  II.,  cap.  vii.,  \  x. 

3  Solent  iidem  Kabbalistae  nomina  divina  ad  decern  Sephiroth  accomodari. 
Buddeus,  lntrod.  ad  Hist.  Philos.  Ebraeor.,  p.  272.  Nomen  separatum  dicitur, 
quod  cum  magna  illud  veneratione  prosequnti  sint  Ebraei.    Ibid.,  p.  273. 

4  Moses  non  est  usus  nisi  nomine  isto  maximo  et  omnia  miracula  sua  quae 
fecit,  fuerunt  per  Schemhamphorasch  id  est  nomen  expositum  quod  est  ipsum 
nomen  Jehovah.  Caphtor,  f.  56,  in  Buddeus,  lntrod.  ad  Hist.  Philos.  Ebraer., 
p.  274. 

5  Quod  per  nomen  hocce  expositum  miracula  sua  (Christus)  ediderit.  Bud- 
deus, op.  cit.,  p.  274. 

6  Quoted  by  Buddeus,  p.  275 :  "  Mi  fili,  ausculta  a  voci  meae  et  aures  tuae 
attentae  sunto  ad  consilium  meum:  si  seducere  te  conentur  peccatores  ne 
acquiescito  si  dixerint  tibi:  veni  nobiscum  et  trademus  in  manum  tuam 
nomina  divina,  quibus  possis  uti:  mi  fili  ne  abito  in  viam  cum  ipsis,  con- 
tine  pedem  tuum  a  semita  ipsorum ;  quia  ilia  nomina  et  usus  illorum,  nil 
sane  nisi  retia  et  laquei  ad  capiendum  animas  et  ducendas  eas  in  perditionem." 

36 


422 


TEE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


name :  "  If  sinners  would  entice  thee  by  saying, '  Come  with 
us  and  we  will  deliver  into  thy  hands  the  great  or  sacred 
name,  with  which  thou  canst  have  power  over  all  things/ 
my  son,  go  not  in  their  way,  but  let  thy  steps  be  different 
from  theirs  ;  because  those  names,  and  the  use  of  them,  are 
naught  but  a  net  to  trap  the  unwary  minds  and  lead  them  to 
perdition.*'  Moses  Maimonides,  the  founder  of  an  Israelit- 
ish  school,  was  deeply  learned  in  the  arts  of  the  cabala,  and 
had  acquired  singular  powers,  according  to  Buddeus,1  by 
the  use  of  certain  letters,  characters,  and  mystical  num- 
bers, or  by  true  or  spurious  names. 

Cabalistic  rites,  early  in  the  thirteenth  century,  were 
openly  practised  in  France  by  the  Jews.2  Rabbinical 
writers  assert  that  Solomon  secured  the  mighty  Schamir 
through  the  agency  of  the  magic  word  Schemhamphorasch. 
The  property  of  this  creature  was  an  irresistible  power  to 
cut  the  hardest  stones.  Since  Solomon  was  instructed  to 
prepare  his  temple  without  the  aid  of  a  builder's  tool,  he 
had  recourse  to  the  talismanic  potency  of  the  above  word, 
Jehovah,  to  possess  Schamir.3 

Many  cabalistic  writers  deduce  the  origin  of  their 
teachings  from  Adam  himself.4  Others  trace  the  system 
back  in  an  unbroken  line  to  Moses.5  It  is  conceded, 
however,  that  from  very  remote  times  these  traditions 
have  been  a  subject  of  superstitious  reverence  and  zealous 
study.6 

The  Persian  conquest,  no  doubt,  gave  a  strong  tendency 

1  Introduct.  ad  Histor.  Philosop.  Ebracorum,  p.  275. 

*  Buddeus,  op.  cit,  p.  352.  In  these  rites,  the  ceremonies  of  initiation  seem 
bo  have  been  divided  into  degrees.    Ibid.,  p.  355. 

s  Baring  Gould,  Curious  Myths  of  the  Middle  Ages,  p.  125. 
4  Roskoff,  Geschichte  des  Teufels,  Bd.  I.,  p.  275. 

*  Moses  accepit  legem  e  monte  Sinai,  tradidit  earn  Josuae;  Josua  Seniori- 
bus ;  Seniores  prophetis ;  et  prophetae  tradiderunt  earn  viris  synagogae  mag- 
nae.  Pirke  Abhoth.,  cap.  1,  cited  by  Pritius,  Introd.  in  Lect.  Noid  Testamenti, 
p.  448. 

e  Pritius,  op.  cit.,  p.  448. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


423 


to  allegorizing  mysticism  among  the  Jews  while  in  cap- 
tivity. 

In  Egypt  also,  the  land  of  mysteries  and  metaphysics, 
whither  many  Jews  had  emigrated,  either  voluntarily  or 
by  inducements,  after  the  destruction  of  the  first  temple 
at  Jerusalem,  Judaic  culture  found  a  fruitful  soil,  and 
the  lively  phantasies  of  the  Semites  readily  merged  the 
conglomeration  of  Egyptian,  Persian,  and  Greek  elements 
into  the  sacred  Scriptures.  A  steady  and  uninterrupted 
intercourse  of  the  Hebrews  of  Egypt  with  those  of  Pales- 
tine, propagated  the  secret  mysteries  of  the  former  among 
the  Israelites,  and  ultimately  gained  a  well-defined  status 
in  the  creeds  of  both  Egyptian  and  Palestine  Jews.1 

It  was  claimed  that  the  cabala  was  able  to  interpret 
the  mystic  signification  of  the  written  law  which  God  had 
delivered  to  Moses,  and  especially  of  each  letter  and  point 
contained  in  the  Divine  commands  communicated  to  Moses 
upon  Sinai.2  According  to  the  cabalists,  this  interpreta- 
tion was  accomplished  by  means  of  gematria,  geometry  or 
arithmetic,  which  consisted  in  varied  and  formal  combina- 
tions of  the  Hebrew  alphabet,  and,  although  the  letters 
were  totally  different,  produced  exact  numeral  results.3 

Such  combinations  were  also  supposed  to  possess  mys- 
tical properties,  and  were  oftentimes  used  as  symbols.4 

1  In  iEgypten,  wohin  nach  der  Zerstorung  des  ersten  Terapels  viele  Juden 
wiederholt  eingewandert  waren,  fand  der  jiidische  Mysticismus  einen  gedeih- 
lichen  Boden,  u.  s.  w.    BoskofF,  op.  cit,  Bd.  I.,  p.  247. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  248. 

3  Gematria  est  arithmetica  explicatio  voeis  e  numeris,  quos  juxta  valorem 
literarum  suarum  arithmeticum,  vel  per  aliam  vocem  quae  in  numeris  toti- 
dem  continent.    Pfeiffer,  Critica  Sacra  de  Sacri  Codicis,  etc.,  p.  209. 

4  Buddeus,  Introd.  ad  Hist.  Philos.  Ebraeor.,  p.  266.  The  Hebrew  letter  * 
(Yod)  was  used  by  the  Jews  in  early  ages  as  typical  of  the  all-pervading 
essence  of  Deity :  Dominum  ilium  aeturnem  esse  Deum  unicum  in  quator 
mundi  partibus  (cum  lettera  1  quaternarii  muneri  nota  sit)  i.  e.,  ubique  et  in 
toto  mundo  praesentem.  Ibid.,  loc.  cit.  This  was  apparently  the  idea  which 
suggested  a  place  for  the  synonym  of  Jehovah  in  Masonic  lodges.  The 
letter  "G"  is,  without  doubt,  the  initial  "Yod,"  and  is  still  visible  in  the 
east  of  a  lodge. 


424 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


Gematria  was  subdivided  into  other  attributes,  one  of 
which  w&s  arehitectonica,  in  which  essential  words  con- 
tained the  mathematical  mystery  of  constructing  edifices.1 
Another  system  of  explaining  hidden  Scripture  secrets  was 
designated  notaricon.  This  was  performed  by  extracting 
one  word  from  many,  by  using  either  the  initial  or  termi- 
nal letters  of  each  syllable,  and  when  thus  collated,  the 
alphabetic  word  became  endowed  with  especial  powers.2 

Letters  and  other  visible  signs  composing  the  sacred 
writings  are  avowed  by  cabalistic  commentators  to  stand 
with  celestial  emanations  of  the  Godhead,  whose  operations 
they  represent  in  the  closest  relations,  and  by  the  merest 
expression  of  that  visible  sign  in  which  concealed  potency 
lies,  a  spiritual  being  is  set  in  motion.  In  consequence  of 
this  connection  existing  between  literal  characters  and 
supernatural  essence,  whoever  would  exert  transcendent 
authority  over  nature  and  the  world  of  spirits,  must 
acquire  this  power  from  the  cabala.3  According  to  this 
scheme,  the  first  manifestations  of  divinity  are  denomi- 
nated Memra,  the  word  (Logos)  Chochma  or  wisdom,  and 
Jah  as  strength. 

The  cabal ists  assert  that  by  the  word  Jah,  God  created 
the  universe,4  and  during  the  Middle  Ages  the  deity  was 
frequently  represented  by  these  letters,  suspended  or  hewn 
in  the  interior  walls  of  churches.5    Uninterrupted  inter- 

1  Buddeus,  op.  cit.,  p.  266.  Arehitectonica,  quae  e  dimensione  mathematica 
aedificiorum  et  structurarum  mysteria  captat.  Pfeiffer,  Critica  Sacra,  etc.,  p. 
210.  The  Yod,  or  »,  was  expressly  declared  to  be  of  such  magical  potency. 
Ibid.  King  Solomon,  possessed  of  the  secrets  of  this  potential  word,  was  con- 
sequently enabled  to  construct  his  temple. 

2  Buddeus,  op.  cit,  p.  267 ;  Pfeiffer,  op.  cit.,  pp.  213,  214. 

3  Roskoff,  Geschichte  des  Teufels,  Bd.  I.,  p.  248. 

*  Durch  Jah  ist  Gott  Schopfer  der  Welten.  Roskoff,  op.  cit.,  p.  249.  In 
the  frontispiece  to  The  History  of  the  Holy  Bible,  London,  MDLII.,  the  deity 
is  represented  in  the  act  of  creating  the  universe,  by  the  name  of  Jehovah 
inscribed  within  a  radiating  triangle. 

5  Poole,  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Architecture,  p.  398  ;  Didron,  Christian  Icon- 
ography, p.  232. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  425 


course  with  the  Egyptians  furnished  the  Palestine  Jews 
opportunities  for  obtaining  a  profound  insight  into  the 
mystical  lore  of  the  priesthood  and  their  sacred  rites. 

After  the  correct  pronunciation  of  the  word,  Jehovah, 
had  become  lost,  substitutes  seem  to  have  been  employed 
for  purposes  of  magic  and  amulets.1  As  previously  stated, 
Schemhamphorasch  was  endowed  with  talismanic  power, 
and  was  used  by  Solomon. 

Abrak,  or  abraksax,  signifies  also,  according  to  Beller- 
mann,2  "  the  adorable,  blessed  name," 3  and  designated  the 
Basilidian  essence  —  the  nameless  and  unutterable  word. 
And  in  this  it  corresponds  exactly  with  the  Schemham- 
phorasch, the  divine  word,  the  blessed  and  eternal  name, 
or  with  the  Haschschem  Zithbareck,  and  the  unspeakable, 
omnific,  and  ineffable  Tetragrammaton,  the  Jehovah  of 
the  Jews,4  both  of  which  are  engraven  on  abraxas  stones 
(Figs.  29,  30).  The  word  abrak,  abrach,  or  abrech,  is  also 
to  be  found  in  the  Bible  as  a  salutation  to  Joseph  by  the 
Egyptians  upon  his  accession  to  royal  power.5  It  will  be 
seen,  therefore,  that  this  word,  through  the  intervening 
changes  of  time,  has  descended  as  an  elemental  portion  of 

1  Zebaoth  was  oftentimes  substituted,  but  Adonai  was  the  most  usual.  Gro- 
tius,  Annotation,  in  Libr.  Evangel.,  Tome  II.,  p.  129.  Adonai  means  lord  or 
master.  Hiram  Abif,  in  old  Masonic  catechisms,  is  called  Adoniram,  or 
Master  Hiram.  Therefore,  Mali !  Adonai  1  What !  our  Master !  would  be  a 
more  fitting  and  significant  exclamation  than  Mah  !  Aboni !  What !  the  Builder! 

2  Die  Drei  Programmen  ueber  die  Abraxas- Gemmen,  les  Stiick,  pp.  48-53; 
also  King,  The  Gnostics  and  their  Remains,  pp.  367. 

3  Milman,  Latin  Christianitxj,  Vol.  II.,  p.  116,  note  {%).  Vide  Matter,  His- 
toire  du  Gnosticisme,  Tom.  II.,  pp.  47-50,  who  designates  it  "parole  sacree." 

*  Selden,  De  Synedr.  Veter.  Ebraeor.,  p.  828,  says  the  most  solemn  obliga- 
tions were  made  under  the  invocation  of  the  Tetragrammaton. 

5  1  Moses,  41,  43.  The  Egyptian  hierarchy  evidently  shared,  with  other 
Eastern  priesthood,  accurate  notions  of  one  supreme  God.  This  is  attested 
by  the  use  of  the  word  abrac,  and  also  by  the  hieroglyph  Anuk  — pu  —  Anuk 
—  the  "  I  am  that  I  am,"  given  in  Eber,  JEgypten  und  die  Buecher  Moses.  For 
this  reference  and  authority,  I  am  indebted  to  the  kind  courtesy  of  Mr.  Bayard 
Taylor. 

36* 


426 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


Freemasonry  to  the  fifteenth  century,  and  as  representative 
of  a  lost  name. 

The  "  way  of  winning  the  faculty  of  abrac,"  thus  under- 
stood, signifies  the  means  by  which  the  lost  word  may  be 
recovered,  or,  at  least,  substituted.  Abrac  was,  perhaps, 
used,  in  harmony  with  the  times,  as  a  charm  to  which, 
when  the  faculty  of  acquiring  the  same  had  been  gained 
by  an  investiture  with  craft  secrets,  a  specific  magical 
power  was  attributed.  With  such  talismanic  meaning, 
this  word  evidently  found  ready  admission  among  Teu- 
tonic guild  members,  together  with  other  Oriental  tradi- 
tions contributed  by  Byzantine  corporations. 


Fig.  29.  Fig.  30. 


Although  the  ancient  Germans  appear  to  have  been 
ignorant  of  the  secrets  of  letters 1  for  practical  purposes, 
they  were  thoroughly  conversant  with  them  for  magical 
uses.  In  this  respect,  the  same  virtues  were  accredited  by 
the  Norsemen  to  runes  as  were  ascribed  by  Eastern  peo- 
ple to  their  combinations  of  letters. 

The  Grimms,2  with  wonderful  accuracy  and  with  con- 
clusive arguments,  have  traced  the  original  Runic  charac- 
ters to  a  remote  Asiatic  source.3  The  name  itself  involved 
the  notion  of  mysticism,  and  the  famous  mandragora,  or 

1  Literarum  secreta  viri  pariter  ac  feminae  ignorant.  Tacit.,  Germania, 
cap.  19. 

2  Wilhelm  Grimm,  Ueber  Deutsche  Runen,  p.  67  ;  Jacob  Grimm,  Deutsche 
Mythologies  p.  376. 

3  Max  Mueller,  Survey  of  Languages,  p.  xvii. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY.  427 


rather  the  demon  conj  ured  out  of  it,  is  accurately  expressed 
in  old  German  by  alraun.1  It  is  possible  that  this  word 
is  the  root  of  the  runes.  Talismanic  potency  is  inherent 
in  alraun,  which  is  applied  in  the  sense  of  a  good  or  evil 
substance.2    For  instance : 

"Alraun,  ich  rufe  dich  an, 
Das  du  meinen  harten  Man 
Dringest  darzu. 

Das  er  mir  kein  leid  nich  thu."  3 

Friday  is  also  mentioned  as  a  day  when  the  Alraunen 
will  be  domiciled  upon  Horselberg.4 

"Werder  has  translated  one  of  the  stanzas  of  Ariosto's 
Orlando  Furioso,  with  the  word  in  the  signification  of  an 
all-powerful  spell: 

"  Dagegen  auch  kein  sanft  und  labsal  wird  gefunden, 
Es  ist  kein  alraun  wort  und  murmeln  dafur  gut." 

An  essential  thought  in  this  derivative  word  is  one  of 
supernal  power,  and  that  meaning  was  transferred  to  the 
runes,  which  were  endowed  with  cabalistic  qualities. 

In  the  Scandinavian  mythology,  Odin,  the  supreme 
Norse  divinity,  is  represented  as  the  inventor  of  the  Runic 
alphabet,5  and  so  far  corresponds  in  tradition  with  Mer- 
cury, to  whom  the  invention  of  letters  and  dice  was 
assigned. 

Runic  characters,  like  the  Roman  dice,  were  used  for 
the  purpose  of  invoking  the  fates  by  sortilege.  No  doubt 
the  ancient  Teutons  were  familiar  with  this  alphabet,  but 
disposed  of  it  strictly  for  charms,  soothsaying,  and  magic. 
These  letters,  or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  the  runes,  were 
an  important  part  in  the  religious  observances  of  the 
Northern  nations.    As  mystical  signs,  they  were  under 

1  Mallet,  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  231,  note  (*). 

2  Grimm,  Deutsche^  Worterbuch  sub  voce  Alraun. 

8  Grimm,  Worterbuch  v.  cit.  4  Ibid.,  sub  voce  cit. 

5  Sirarock,  Deutsche  Mythologu,  p.  210.  In  the  old  Eddaic  Runenlied,  this 
discovery  is  ascribed  to  Odin. 


428 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


the  direct  supervision  of  the  priesthood.  Simrock1  argues, 
with  great  force  and  justice,  that  the  mythological  con- 
ception of  Odin's  discovery  of  the  runes  was  intended  to 
signify  that  they  emanated  from  him  as  the  supreme  deity 
of  the  universe,  and  as  such,  being  an  integral  portion 
of  himself,  inherited  divine  or  supernatural  attributes. 
Viewed  in  this  light,  the  Oriental  and  Western  traditions 
of  the  potency  of  word  combinations  were  apparently  de- 
rived from  a  common  source. 

It  would  seem  that  the  irresistible  powers  of  the  name, 
Jehovah  of  the  Jews,  or  the  sacred  and  ineffable  word  of 
the  other  Semitic  races,  were  so  deeply  impressed  upon 
those  nationalities  that  the  talismanic  and  magical  influ- 
ence of  alphabetic  collocation  became  a  radical  part  of  their 
religious  culture.  Therefore,  in  this  sense,  the  Mosaic 
word,  as  an  emanation  of  deity,  may  be  regarded  as  the 
historical  prototype  of  Odinic  runes.  A  specific  super- 
natural power  was  supposed  to  be  inherent  in  Runic  charac- 
ters,2 and  consequently  they  were  used  for  a  diversity  of 
purposes  by  the  ancient  Germans. 

According  to  Schlegel,3  these  letters  were  connected  with 
religious  worship,  and  entirely  appropriated  to  supersti- 
tious practices  of  the  priesthood.  The  alphabet,  of  wooden 
blocks,  was  arranged  in  a  certain  mysterious  order,  as  a 
rubric  to  accompany  a  prophetic  song  or  incantation. 
Large  letters  were  placed  together  in  multifarious  com- 
binations, to  each  of  which  mystical  properties  were 
ascribed.4  They  were  divided  into  two  classes,  called 
noxious  and  favorable  runes  ;  the  first  were  employed  to 
bring  evil  upon  an  enemy,  the  other  averted  misfortunes 
and  procured  success  in  martial  combats.  Medical  runes 
served  to  dispel  melancholy  thoughts,  and  were  an  anti- 
dote against  poison  and  disease.5    These  differed  only  in 

1  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  213.  2  Keightly,  Fairy  Mythology,  p.  98. 

3  History  of  Literature,  p.  153.  *  Schlegel,  Ibid.,  p.  154. 

6  Mallet,  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  218,  et  seq. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


429 


the  manner  of  writing  them,  and  with  materials  of  which 
they  were  written  —  in  the  place  where  exposed  to  view, 
and  in  the  ceremonies  attending  the  preparation  of  the 
lines.  The  most  efficacious  were  drawn  'up  in  form  of  a 
circle  or  serpent.  Especial  talismanic  power  was  attributed 
to  runes  written,  as  the  Abracadabra,  in  shape  of  a  triangle.1 
The  art  was  still  in  use  so  late  as  the  sixth  century, 
according  to  Venantius  Fortunatius,  bishop  of  Poitiers : 

"  Barbara  fraxineis  pingatur  runa  tabellis." 

Simrock2  has  preserved  an  incantation  sung  over  a  Runic 
inscription,  the  characters  of  which  corresponded  to  the 
initials  of  the  song: 

"  Thur's  riskt  ek  ther  ok  thria  stofi." 

The  magical  use  of  this  alphabet  was  recognized  by  the 
ancient  Icelandic  laws  or  gragas.  Engraved  on  a  nithing 
post,  these  potent  charms  were  of  peculiar  efficacy,  and 
their  application  to  vengeful  purposes  was  rigidly  pro- 
hibited by  the  Norse  code.3  In  the  Runic  chapter,4  it  is 
asserted  that  with  certain  Runes  wizards  could  be  dis- 
comfited and  life  restored  to  the  dead.  Sometimes  an 
arrow-headed  mark  was  adopted  to  designate  a  particular 
rune  dedicated  to  Thor,  and  was  usually  incised  upon 
swords.5 

Olaus  Magnus6  relates  a  curious  legend  concerning  a 
certain  man  named  Gilbert,  who  had  offended  his  pre- 

1  Ibid.,  p.  227.  With  the  Jews,  the  triangle  had  a  peculiar  talismanic  power. 
Maimonides,  More  Nevochim,  p.  119.  It  was  in  this  figure  that  the  sacred 
name  usually  appeared.  Didron,  Christian  Iconography,  p.  231,  etc. ;  West- 
ropp  and  Wake,  Ancient  Symbol  Worship,  p.  96. 

2  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  212. 

3  Dahlmann,  Geschichte  von  Da.nnema.rk,  Bd.  II.,  p.  243  ;  Mallet,  op.  cit.,  p.  156. 

4  Runenlied,  Str.  20. 

5  Worsaae,  Primeval  Antiq.  of  Denmark,  p.  116.  For  Runic  signs,  vide 
Brand,  Popular  Antiq.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  299. 

6  Ut  exiquo  fuste  certis  characteribus  Gothicis,  seu  Euthenicis  sculpto 
atque  a  praeceptore  protecto,  et  manibus  apprehenso  ipse  Gilbertus  immobilis 
maneret.    Hist.  Septen.,  Lib.  III.,  c.  xx. 


430 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 


ceptor  in  magic  arts.  In  order  to  punish  him,  he  was 
incased  in  a  double  set  of  wooden  strips,  upon  which  Runic 
characters  were  inscribed.  By  the  irresistible  prowess  of 
the  runes,  according  to  tradition,  Gilbert  is  yet  enthralled. 

The  Norse  sodalities  were  evidently  deeply  interested  in 
incantations  and  soothsaying.1  A  Scandinavian  sorceress 
went  from  guild  to  guild  telling  fortunes  and  performing 
magic  for  the  benefit  of  guildic  members.2  Such  concep- 
tions of  talismanic  influence  inherent  in  the  runes,  existing 
among  the  Germanic  fraternities,  afforded  a  ready  admis- 
sion to  Judaic  or  Gnostic  notions,  touching  the  mystical 
power  of  combined  letters  contributed  by  Byzantine  build- 
ing corporations  to  the  early  mediaeval  associations,  at  a 
time  when  Teutonic  legislation  struggled  to  suppress 
magic  rites,3  and  welcomed  Eastern  artificers. 


1  By  the  ordinance  of  a  guild  at  Ludlow,  established  in  the  year  1284,  the 
members  are  specifically  enjoined  against  "calling  up  ghosts  after  death." 
Smith,  English  Guilds,  p.  194. 

2  When  this  conjurer  made  her  appearance  in  the  assembly,  she  was  clothed 
in  a  blue  mantle,  and  escorted  by  the  Master  to  the  most  elevated  seat. 
Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  215. 

3  Penalties  inflicted  bylaw  for  soothsaying.  Lex  Salica,  Tit.  XXII.,  c.  4  j 
Lex  Sal.  emend,  a  Carol.  M.,  xxv. ;  Edictum,  Luitpr.  Regis.,  lxxxiii. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 


Derivation  of  Word  "Mason"  —  Traced  to  Mace,  or  Hammer — 
Mediaeval  Symbolical  Uses  of  this  Implement  —  Thor's  Weap- 
on—  Spanish  Mazo  —  Tragic  Powers  of  Mace  —  Emblem  of  Au- 
thority—  The  Middle- Age  Mationes  and  Maceronii  —  Lapidi- 
cini,  or  Stone-Cutters  —  Translated  by  Boileau  as  Maqons  — 
Early  English  Mason  —  The  Medieval  Craft  Known  by  this 
Name. 

HE  irresistible  might  attributed  to  the  hammer  of 
the  Norse  deity,  Thor,  had  so  far  survived  the 
practice  of  pagan  rites  among  the  Teutonic  races, 
'  that  many  of  its  symbolic  uses  were  perpetuated 
in  the  ordinary  details  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  society 
during  the  Middle  Ages.1  Perhaps  the  last  historical  ap- 
plication of  the  redoubted  mallet  to  typical  purposes  may 
be  found  in  the  surname  of  the  Frankish  King,  Charles 
Martel,  or  Charles  the  Hammer-Bearer,  who,  until  the 
rising  tide  of  Moslem  conquest  in  Europe  was  checked  at 
Tours,2  still  maintained  the  custom  of  carrying  the  diminu- 
tive hammer  as  a  prototype  of  the  all-powerful  God  of 
Asgard.3 

Numerous  and  oft-recurring  references  in  the  Eddaic 
songs  to  the  manifold  powers  of  this  divine  implement, 

1  Grimm,  Deutsche  Iiechts  Alterthiimer,  Cap.  iii.  Vide  supra,  chap,  xxvi.,  for 
minute  details  touching  this  proposition. 

2  Mariana,  Historia  de  Espana,  Tomo  I.,  p.  328. 

3  Grimm,  op.  cit.}  p.  64. 

431 


432 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


attest  how  profoundly  the  pagan  mind  of  Northern  Europe 
was  impressed  with  the  absolute  necessity  of  its  presence, 
not  only  in  celebrating  the  battle-god's  characteristic  wor- 
ship, but  in  the  humbler  spheres  of  civil  and  domestic  life.1 
The  most  sacred  duties  of  society  were  hallowed  by  the 
mallet  touch,  when  wielded  with  emblematic  allusion  to 
the  binding  force  inherent  in  Thor's  celebrated  weapon. 
In  the  cumbersome  and  solemn  ceremony  of  an  ancient 
Scandinavian  marriage,  this  symbol  must  rest  upon  the 
knee  of  the  veiled  bride,  in  direct  allusion  to  that  unques- 
tioning renunciation  of  personal  will  which  she  surren- 
dered unto  marital  authority.2 

When,  amid  imposing  rites,  the  body  of  the  cherished3 
dead  was  about  to  be  reduced  to  ashes,  or  placed  upon  a 
fragile  bark  to  endure  the  merciless  tossing  of  faithless 
waters,4  the  priesthood,  in  imitation  of  the  Norse  divinity, 
consecrated  the  funeral  pile  with  a  mallet.  With  this  in- 
strument those  who  had  outlived  the  age  of  strength  and 
martial  activity  were  remorselessly  slaughtered  and  sent  to 
Thor.  Behind  the  door  in  every  Teutonic  household  such 
a  hammer  was  always  hung  in  view.5  Although  Christi- 
anity extinguished  the  more  flagrant  features  of  the  ancient 
paganism,  the  new  religion  suffered  unnumbered  symbolical 
uses  of  this  implement  to  continue,  and  in  some  instances 
incorporated  them  with  other  religious  practices.  In  this 
way  it  survived  to  mediaeval  judicial  procedure;  nor  was 
it  restricted  to  actual  court  usage,  but  was  oftentimes  made 

1  Geijer,  History  of  Sweden,  Vol.  I.,  p.  31 ;  Thrymskvidha,  Str.  30. 

2  Geijer,  op.  et  loc.  cit.  Reference  to  the  mighty  bolt  of  Thor  was  vigorously 
maintained  for  succeeding  ages  by  the  descendants  of  the  ancient  Norseman, 
in  the  rite  of  Christian  marriage.  Olaus  Magnus,  Historia  Septentri.  Condit., 
Lib.  IV.,  cap.  vii. 

3  Gylfaginning,  49 ;  Thorpe,  Northern  Mythology,  Vol.  I.,  p.  75 ;  Grimm, 
Deutsche  Rechts  Alterthiimer,  p.  64 ;  Simrock,  Deutsche  Mythologie,  p.  227. 

*  Beowolf,  Anglo-Saxon  Songs,  Str.  70,  et  seq. 

6  Geijer,  History  of  Sweden,  Vol.  I.,  p.  32 ;  Sirarock,  op.  cit.,  p.  233 ;  vide 
supra,  p.  279,  note  3. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


433 


to  serve  as  an  ensign  or  signal  to  rally  the  people  of  certain 
districts,  in  order  to  congregate  them  as  a  united  body  at 
a  designated  place.1 

Primarily,  the  suspension  of  a  hammer  in  churches  al- 
luded to  the  original  tragic  purposes  to  which  it  was  form- 
erly applied.  Subsequently  it  was  substituted  by  a  club 
or  mace,  and  in  this  form  for  centuries  continued  to  be  dis- 
played in  many  sacred  edifices,  till  towards  the  close  of  the 
Middle  Ages.2  At  the  entrance  of  some  provincial  towns 
in  Germany  a  club  was  hung  up,  at  the  side  of  which  a 
doggerel  verse  portrayed  its  death-dealing  properties,  de- 
scended from  the  Norse  god's  mallet.3  Even  in  monas- 
teries an  implement  of  this  kind  was  preserved  as  an  em- 
blem and  as  a  symbol  of  union.4  When  the  early  Ger- 
manic guilds,  dating  from  the  first  forms  of  Teutonic  so- 
ciety, had  so  far  developed  into  an  accurately  defined  ele- 
ment of  later  times,  they  still  retained  the  ancient  forms, 
and  certainly  many  of  the  symbols  with  which  their  pre- 
cursors performed  heathen-religious  services.5 

Societies  thus  based  upon  the  worship  of  Thor,  the  di- 


1  Grimm,  ut  supra,  p.  65.  For  additional  information  on  the  judicial  con- 
nection of  the  mediaeval  hammer,  see  Simrock,  op.  cit.,  pp.  277-499,  and, 
Maurer,  Geschichte  der  Markenverfassung,  pp.  161,  162. 

2  Frequently  used  in  convents,  and  solemnly  sounded  when  an  ecclesiastical 
inmate  was  expiring.    Fosbroke,  British  Monachism,  pp.  31,  52-54. 

3  Simrock,  Handbuch  der  Deutschen  Mylhologie,  p.  233. 

4  Du  Cange,  Glossar.  Med.  et  Infim.  Latinit.,  sub  v.,  Ferula  and  Tabula. 

5  Christianity  equally  among  the  Egyptian  symbols  adopted  their  original 
significance  into  the  new  religious  usages.  Matter,  Histoire  du  Gnosticisme, 
Tom.  II.,  p.  24.  From  this  source  and  from  the  unswerving  custom  noted, 
the  Craft  of  Freemasons  has  obtained  the  ancient  gnostic  Eye,  which  was 
oftentimes  engraven  on  a  single  stone,  and  portrayed  to  the  initiate  mind  the 
idea  of  sleepless  vigilance.  Au  lieu  de  la  pluralite  des  yeux,  on  n'en  trouve 
qu'un  seul  sur  ses  pierres.  Matter,  op.  cit.,  Tom.  I.,  p.  275.  It  may  be  added 
that  a  mirror  was  used  in  the  Eastern  Mysteries  for  purposes  identical  with 
those  noted  as  current  among  the  mediaeval  craftsmen.  Taylor,  Eleusinian 
and  Bacchic  Mysteries,  IntroducL,  p.  xv.  With  an  occasional  exception,  how- 
ever, these  ancient  societies  present  no  points  in  common  with  the  mysteries 
of  Masonry. 

37  2C 


434 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


vine  Hammer-Bearer,  rigidly  maintained  the  unalterable 
type  of  that  divinity,  the  mallet  or  mace,  as  a  symbol  of 
their  closely-organized  union.1  After  the  victory  of  Charles 
Martel  at  Tours,  in  France,  and  the  rapid  extension  of 
Christianity,  consequent  upon  the  defeat  of  the  Moham- 
medan forces,  the  hammer,  which  distinguished  this  illus- 
trious monarch  and  procured  for  him  the  title  of  ancient 
protector  of  Gallic  Masons,2  apparently  ceased  to  be  carried 
by  his  successors,  the  Carlovingian  kings,  as  referring  too 
directly  to  the  Norse  battle-god.  It  was  therefore  substi- 
tuted by  another  implement,  equally  typical  of  power,  the 
mace,  and  still  continues  in  royal  ceremonials  to  be  an  en- 
sign of  authority  and  union. 

From  the  mallet,  club,  or  mace,  of  identical  and  exact 
signification,  the  name  of  Mason  has  originated.  The 
symbolical  attributes  of  Thor's  mallet,  or  mace,  are  to  this 
day  the  groundwork  of  a  Master's  authority  over  a  lodge 
of  Masons,  and  the  strange  vitality  of  this  deity's  symbol 
still  manifests  itself  in  other  details  of  lodge  ritualism. 
This  word,  traceable,  perhaps,  through  old  Teutonic  dia- 
lects from  megin,  might,  to  its  present  Italian  form,  mazza, 
a  hammer,  embodies  within  itself  that  idea  of  strength 
and  power  with  which  the  irresistible  weapon  of  the 
Northern  divinity  was  invested,  and  with  the  mallet,  or 
mace,  Thor  was  indifferently  represented.3 

The  presence  of  this  word  as  a  fundamental  one  in  the 
original  home  of  European  Masons,  viz.,  in  Italy,  shadows 
forth  that,  as  this  corporation  of  builders  diverged  from 
Northern  Italy  in  order  to  perpetuate  their  art  throughout 
Europe,  their  name,  also,  originated  in  the  corruption  of 
a  word,  signifying  the  implement  not  only  constantly  ap- 
plied in  their  handiwork,  but  for  a  higher  reason  that  the 

1  Ordnung  der  Steinmetzen  1462,  Art.  13,  and  supra,  cap.  xxvi.,  with  authori- 
ties annoted. 

2  Boileau,  Reglemens  sur  les  Arts  el  Metiers  de  Paris,  cap.  xlviii. 

3  Vide  supra,  p.  287. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


435 


hammer  or  mace  was  the  symbol  of  unity  and  confrater- 
nity in  the  craft  guild,  and  because,  like  the  later  mediaeval 
judicial  hammer,  it  was  a  type  of  authority  requiring  the 
congregation  of  all  who  should  behold  it  or  be  within 
hearing  of  its  significant  blows.1  Through  the  interven-' 
ing  changes  of  time,  the  adulterated  dialect  of  Spain  has 
preserved  the  original  derivation  from  mazo,  hammer ; 
hence,  mazoneria,  Masonry,  or  an  art  so  intimately  associ- 
ated with  both  the  practical  and  symbolical  uses  of  this 
implement,  that  the  name  is  directly  deduced  from  that 
source. 

With  little  labor  it  may  be  traced  through  corrupt  medi- 
aeval Latinity  to  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  at 
which  epoch  the  word,  Mason,  was  fixed  by  law,  and  has 
so  continued,  without  other  alteration  than  a  prefix.  Per- 
haps the  earliest  generic  form  of  this  root  may  be  found 
in  the  Anglo-Saxon  Glossary  of  ^Elfric,  where  Mationes  is 
re-rendered  as  Lapidium  opcrarii,  or  Workers  of  Stone.  At 
a  later  period,  it  occurs  in  a  monastic  chronicle,2  under  the 
form  of  Mactiones,  in  the  following  sentence :  "  Reversus 
autem  lapidicinos  et  mactiones,  undecunque  jussit  aggregari." 
The  words  mactiones  and  lapidicinos  have  here  the  same  sig- 
nification, and  mean  stone-cutters,  or  Masons.  In  the  Ital- 
ian, maeina,  more  ancient  macigno?  a  stone  lap-mill,  can  be 
detected  the  root  of  mace,  or  hammer,  referring  to  the 
mace-shaped  implement  with  which  corn  was  in  former 
ages  prepared  for  domestic  use.  Middle- Age  records  use 
the  words  materio  and  macerio,  to  distinguish  the  class  of 
workmen  alluded  to  thus :  "  Faber  ferrarius  conventionem 
suam  fecerat  annuam,  ut  ibidem  Suessione  remanens,  uten- 
silia  materonum  (maceronum)  reficeret."4    That  is,  a  skilled 

1  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts  Alter thiimer,  pp.  832-833;  see  supra,  p.  303;  Ord~ 
nung  der  Sieinmetzen  1462,  Art.  28. 

2  Odo  Cluniae,  In  Vita  S.  Geraldi.  Com.  Aureliae,  Lib.  II.,  cap.  4. 

3  Du  Cange,  Glossar.  Infim.  et  Medi.  Latinitas,  sub.  v.  Macina. 

4  Hugo  Forsit,  De  Miraculis  S.  Mariae  Suess.,  Lib.  VI..  cap.  8. 


436 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


iron  artificer  made  the  usual  contract  to  properly  adjust 
the  tools  of  the  Masons. 

In  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century  the  word  appears 
as  now  lettered,  viz.,  Mason,  and  is  evidently  of  Gallic 
derivation.1  At  the  commencement  of  the  ensuing  cen- 
tury  it  was  written  Macon,2  —  still  adopted  by  the  Craft 
in  France ;  and  in  the  celebrated  Ordinances  of  Boileau, 
formally  committed  to  writing  in  the  year  1254,  the  jux- 
taposition of  this  word  is  identical  with  those  cited  above. 
For  instance,  in  the  preceding  quotation,  the  words  "  lapi- 
dicinos  et  mationes,"  appear  conjoinedc  In  the  ordinances 
referred  to  they  reappear  as  "  taileur  de  pierre  et  macon," 
and  signify  a  stone-cutter  and  mason.3  The  close  similarity 
between  the  phraseology  produced,  is  of  so  marked  sig- 
nificance as  to  lead  to  a  well-grounded  belief  that  the  vul- 
gar idiom  used  in  Boileau's  time  was  an  exact  translation 
of  lapidicini  into  taileur  de  pierre,  and  of  mationes  into 
macons,  which  severally  define  the  same  class  of  operatives, 
or  to  distinguish  artificers  whose  principal  working-tool 
was  the  hammer,  or  mace,  symbolizing  oftentimes  lodge 
territory,  and  thus  came  to  be  regarded  as  a  type  of  the 
guild  upon  whose  members  the  name  of  Macons,  or  Ma- 
sons, was  bestowed. 

From  the  foregoing  historic  references,  it  will,  perhaps, 
clearly  appear  that  down  to  the  latter  part  of  the  thir- 
teenth century  the  building  fraternity  in  the  metropolis 
of  the  French  Empire  was  recognized  by  law,  and  carefully 
particularized  as  Macons,  who,  it  may  be  added,  furnished 
the  work  for  the  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame  de  Paris.4  In 
Britain,  a  century  earlier,  a  Master  of  the  Craft  designated 
himself  simply  Mason,  and  has  so  recorded  the  nomen- 


1  See  supra,  chap.  xii. 

2  Du  Cange,  Gloss.  Infim.  et  Med.  Latinit.,  sub.  v.  Macio. 

3  Boileau,  Reglemens  sur  les  Arts  et  Metiers,  cap.  xlviii. 

4  Hope,  Historical  Essay  on  Architecture,  Vol.  I.,  p.  478. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


437 


clature  of  his  profession  on  a  side  wall  in  Melrose  Abbey.1 
Early  in  the  fourteenth  century  — 1334  circa  —  the  English 
versifier,  of  a  more  ancient  metrical  romance,2  uses  the 
word  mace  to  designate  Masonry : 

"He  bysette  the  see  and  the  lond, 
With  boteraay,  and  mace  strong." 

It  may  be  safely  asserted  that  the  craft  guild  of  Masons 
at  the  epochs  mentioned  was  unknown  by  any  distinctive 
name,  either  among  themselves  or  by  authoritative  legis- 
lation. About  the  commencement  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, however,  these  Craftsmen  began  to  be  termed  frema- 
ceons.  This  betrays,  unquestionably,  an  elision  and  merg- 
ing of  Macon  into  some  prefix,  which,  at  the  era  under 
notice,  had  so  far  distinguished  this  class  of  workmen  in 
England  as  to  entitle  them  to  be  recognized  by  a  specific 
appellation.3  The  fundamental  principle  of  fraternity  and 
brotherhood  in  the  Guild,  furnished  with  the  name,  the 
prefix  from  Gallic  sources.  By  the  junction  of  Frere  with 
Macon,  or  Brother  Mason,  the  modern  word  Freemason  has 
been  formed. 

1  See  supra,  chap.  viii. 

2  Weber,  Metrical  Romances,  Vol.  I.,  p.  258;  Kyng  Alisaunder,  v.  6257. 

3  This  merging  was  rapidly  facilitated  by  the  deplorable  neglect  with  which 
the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect  was  treated  by  the  Norman  invaders.  Ignorance  of 
the  French  language  constituted  a  valid  cause  for  rejecting  candidates  for 
official  position.  Thierry,  Hisloire  de  la  Conquite  de  V Angleterre  par  les  Nor- 
mandy Tom.  I.,  p.  219.  A  similar  custom  was  practised  in  the  Roman  Em  - 
pire. Claudius  disfranchised  a  distinguished  Grecian  on  account  of  his  igno- 
rance of  the  Latin  tongue,  and  expatriated  him.  Suetonius,  In  Vita  Claud., 
cap.  16.  During  the  continuance  of  the  Roman  Republic  the  Latin  idiom 
was  rigidly  maintained  in  judicial  and  military  administration  of  conquered 
provinces,  whether  in  Greece,  Africa,  or  Asia.  Valer.  Maximus,  Memorabil. 
Lib.  II.,  cap.  2,  not.  2.  In  the  year  1187,  the  King  of  England  held  inter- 
course with  the  native  element  by  means  of  an  interpreter.  Thierry,  op.  cit., 
Tom.  HI.,  p.  324.  The  earliest  statute  in  English  exclusively  was  not  drawn 
up  until  the  year  1425,  although  permitted,  but  not  ordered,  as  some  writers 
assert,  by  an  act  of  Edward  III.    Thierry,  op.  cit.,  Tom.  IV.,  pp.  "362-363. 

37* 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 


The  Legend  of  Prince  Edwin  —  Edwin  Unknown  to  the  Craft 
till  the  Fifteenth  Century  —  Masons  First  Come  into  Eng- 
land in  Benedict's  Time  —  He  Brings  Skilled  Artificers  in  the 
Eighth  Century  —  The  Holy  Four  Martyrs  —  Patrons  of  the 
Venetian  Masons — Masonic  Hall  in  Venice  in  the  Seventeenth 
Century  Dedicated  to  these  Saints. 

ASCXNTC  traditions  possess  no  such  immunity  as 
to  place  them  beyond  that  critical  test  to  which 
the  assumed  events  of  history  are  subjected.  In- 
dividual opinions  resting  exclusively  upon  the 
apparent  age  of  a  legend,  current  among  the  Craft,  must 
necessarily  be  fallacious,  and  unless  grounded  on  accepted 
facts  should  be  received  with  extreme  reserve.  When  a 
tradition  stands  in  utter  antagonism  to  historical  records, 
it  cannot  be  defended,  and  should  be  abandoned  to  that 
class  of  notions  aptly  termed  myths.  One  obstruction  — 
perhaps  the  main  one — with  which  Masonic  investigations 
are  attended,  arises  from  hasty  suggestions,  bearing  an  ex- 
ternal appearance  of  truth,  made  by  our  writers  without  a 
careful  analysis.  The  distinguished  scholar,  Henry  Hal- 
lam,  complained  that  the  history  of  Freemasonry  had  been 
made  the  object  of  such  unbounded  panegyrical  essays  that 
it  would  be  really  refreshing  to  bring  it  down  to  a  natural 
or  critical  basis.1 

1  Middle  Ages,  Vol.  II.,  p.  547,  Note  1. 

438 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


439 


We  propose  to  examine  the  probable  character  of  the 
Prince  Edwin  fiction,  and  its  possible  authenticity,  and,  so 
far  as  may  be,  suggest  a  solution  of  this  vexed  question. 

For  several  centuries  the  Craft  of  Masons  were  solemnly 
informed  that  their  ancient  Brethren  first  appeared  in 
Britain  in  the  time  of  Athelstan,  an  Anglo-Saxon  king, 
who  reigned  in  the  year  926,  and  that  his  son  Edwin  was 
selected  by  that  monarch  himself  to  become  their  first 
Grand  Master,  and  that  this  prince  called  a  convocation  of 
Masons  at  York  and  provided  the  Craft  with  a  regular 
organization.1  At  what  exact  period  of  time  this  tradi- 
tion originated,  is  evidently  beyond  the  possibility  of 
reason  to  determine.  The  first  knowledge  of  the  presumed 
introduction  of  Masonic  art  into  England  by  Athelstan 
appears  in  the  ancient  manuscript  poem  discovered  by 
Halliwell,  and  is  numbered  among  the  treasures  of  the 
British  Museum  as  Royal  A.  1.  Great  diversity  of  opinion 
exists  touching  the  antiquity  of  this  manuscript.  Mr. 
Halliwell,  who  as  a  learned  antiquarian  assumes  to  speak 
with  authority  upon  this  point,  asserts  it  to  have  been 
written  not  later  than  the  year  1390,  and  his  judgment 
is  unqualifiedly  the  most  entitled  to  respect.  From  the 
sweeping  character  of  an  act  of  Parliament  enacted  in 
1389,  during  the  reign  of  Richard  II.,2  it  was  absolutely 
impossible  for  the  Craft  guild  of  Masons  to  evade  the  law- 
ful necessity  to  make  a  qualified  return  of  the  affairs  and 
regulations  of  their  corporation.  It  is  by  no  means  im- 
probable that  this  vellum  chronicle  may  have  been  used 
for  the  purpose  above  indicated.  A  singular  uniformity 
appears  between  the  general  statements  and  regulations  of 
this  venerable  document  and  the  full  returns  of  other 
guilds  made  in  accordance  with  the  above  statute,  collected 
and  published  by  a  recent  editor. 

At  all  events,  the  tradition  relating  to  Athelstan  and  the 


Vide  supra,  p.  166. 


2  Smith,  English  Guilds,  p.  123. 


440 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


Craft  was  known  at  whatever  period  the  old  manuscript 
may  have  been  drawn  by  the  copyist,  and  is  referred  in  the 
folios  as  a  matter  "heard  spoken  of."  Of  the  existence  of 
a  legend  concerning  Edwin,  not  the  slightest  trace  appears 
in  the  chronicle  under  notice.  This  is  a  significant  omis- 
sion. Subsequent  to  the  foregoing  manuscript  about  one 
hundred  years  (1480-90)  the  Cooke  manuscript,  No.  23,198, 
contains  the  earliest  allusion  to  a  son  of  Athelstan,  but 
does  not  specify  him  by  name.  We  will  assume  that 
Edwin  is  here  referred  to.  The  Landsdowne  manuscript, 
JSTo.  98,  Plut.  lxxv.  E.,  in  the  British  Museum,  and  written 
in  the  year  1560,  makes  the  first  direct  and  unique  use  of 
Edwin's  name  as  son  of  Athelstan.  In  nearly  every  par- 
ticular the  manuscript  narratives  of  the  Craft,  excepting 
the  Halliwell  parchment,  may  be  said  to  agree  upon  Ed- 
win's Masonic  connection,  and  the  York  assembly.  The 
tradition,  therefore,  touching  Athelstan  and  Prince  Edwin, 
had  for  an  indefinite  period  of  time  the  highest  credit,  and 
was  accepted  by  our  precursors  as  an  unquestioned  fact. 

So  far  as  we  know,  Dr.  Plot,  who  wrote  and  published 
some  interesting  facts  about  the  Freemasons  in  the  year 
1686,  was  the  earliest  to  point  out  the  lack  of  paternal 
relationship  between  Athelstan  and  Edwin.  He  main- 
tained that  the  Anglo-Saxon  king  had  no  son.1  But  the 
blow  which  demolished  this  fragile  fiction  was  dealt  by  a 
no  less  personage  than  Sharon  Turner,  erudite  historian 
of  the  Anglo-Saxons.  This  scholar  briefly  stated  that  no 
Grand  Lodge  could  have  been  assembled  at  York  in  the 
year  986  by  Edwin,  son  of  Athelstan,  for  the  very  best 
reason,  that  this  monarch  had  no  son. 

This  legend  of  the  time  of  Athelstan,  so  far  as  the  same 
relates  to  Edwin,  has  been  abandoned  by  more  accurate 
Masonic  writers,  but  in  its  stead  the  effort  has  been  made 
to  refer  the  Craft  tradition  from  the  tenth  century  to  the 


1  History  of  Staffordshire,  g  85. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


441 


seventh — associating  it  still  with  the  city  of  York.  "Wood- 
ford, the  eminent  critic,  suggests1  that  "tradition  some- 
times gets  confused,  after  the  lapse  of  time,  and  that  he 
believes  the  tradition  in  itself  is  true  which  links  Masonry 
to  the  church  building  by  the  operative  brotherhood  under 
Edwin  in  627,  and  to  a  Guild  Charter  under  Athelstane  in 
926."  Prior  to  Woodford,  and  long  before  he  had  called 
attention  to  this  novel  adjustment  of  craft  legends,  Francis 
Drake,  the  archaeologist,  in  1726,  declared  " Edwin  about 
the  year  600  had  laid  the  foundation  of  our  (York)  Cathe- 
dral and  sat  as  Grand  Master."2 

By  means  of  a  pious  fraud,  so  frequently  resorted  to  by 
the  early  evangelists,  Edwin,  King  of  Northumberland,  in 
the  year  627,  professed  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  with  many 
of  his  subjects  was  baptized  on  Easter  day  at  York,  in  St. 
Peter's  Church,  which  he  himself  had  constructed  of  timber, 
during  the  time  he  was  being  catechised  for  baptismal 
rites.3  Edwin  afterwards  began  the  erection  of  a  larger 
church  of  stone4  under  the  direction  of  Paulinus,  intend- 
ing to  enclose  the  oratory  within  the  walls,  but  a  violent 
death  left  the  work  unfinished.  It  will  be  observed  from 
the  foregoing  statement,  which  is  drawn  mainly  from  the 
historians  Bede  and  Henry  Huntingdon,  that  the  earliest 
building  referred  to  was  composed  of  wood,  and  built  by 
the  half-civilized  king  himself;  the  other,  according  to  the 
unequivocal  expression  of  the  venerable  author,  was  also 
personally  conducted  by  the  same  king,  and  constructed 
of  stone,  Paulinus  teaching  him.  This,  therefore,  is  the 
total  proof  from  which  the  theory  has  sprung  that  Edwin 

1  This  statement  appears  in  a  Masonic  oration  by  the  famed  historian,  a 
copy  of  which  the  author  examined  in  the  Lodge  library  at  York. 

2  Hughan's  Old  Masonic  Charges,  Introduction,  p.  xiv. 

3  Henrici  Huntindoniensis  Historiarum,  Lib.  III.,  p.  328,  and  Beda,  Histo- 
rica  Ecclesiastica  Gentis  Anglorum,  Lib.  II.,  cap.  xiv. 

*  Majorem  ip<o  in  loco  et  augustiorem  de  lapide  fabricare  basilicam.  Beda, 
Ibid.,  §  132. 


442 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


organized,  in  the  year  627,  the  Masons  into  an  operative 
body,  and  sat  as  their  first  Grand  Master  at  the  building 
of  the  ancient  York  Church  !  We  unhesitatingly  assert 
that  at  this  period  there  were  no  artificers  or  builders,  ac- 
cording to  the  strict  rules  of  art,  in  England,  who  were 
sufficiently  skilled  to  erect  a  stone  church;  and  that  the 
building  of  stone  alluded  to  was  composed  of  rough  rubble 
or  broken  fragments  rudely  held  together  by  cement  —  in 
truth,  just  such  an  edifice  as  might  be  constructed  in  the 
most  primitive  style  out  of  unhewn  stone  and  roughly 
conjoined  without  higher  skill  than  is  required  to  form 
fragmentary  pieces  into  an  unshapely  mass,  simply  fastened 
together  by  means  of  mortar.  Manifestly  under  the  tutor- 
ship of  Paulinus,  the  King  of  Northumberland,  with  the 
aid  of  his  people,  was  equal  to  the  task  of  carrying  broken 
stone  or  cementing  it  with  mortar,  and  this  is  the  exact 
significance  of  the  passage  in  Bede's  history. 

Fortunately,  the  earliest  introduction  of  artificers  into 
England  competent  to  erect  a  stone  church,  according  to 
the  rules  of  an  exact  science  and  mechanical  skill,  does  not 
depend  upon  conjecture.  In  the  year  672,  St.  Benedict  in- 
troduced, from  Gaul  or  France,  into  England  the  first  body 
of  artificers  who  were  skilled  in  the  construction  of  stone 
church  edifices.1  These  builders  were  architects,  and  under 
the  privileges  of  their  incorporation,  reaffirmed  by  the 
Theodosian  edicts  two  centuries  previous  and  the  Gothic 
rulers  of  Northern  Italy,  had  a  regular  organization. 
Twenty-nine  years  before  their  importation  from  Gaul  by 
St.  Benedict,  the  Langobardic  ruler  Rothar  had,  in  the 
year  643,  recognized  these  building  colleges  and  specifically 
designated  them  as  Collegia  Comacinorum.2  I  can  interpret 
the  expression  Comacinorum  only  as  signifying  associate 

1  Quod  artifices  lapidearum  sedium  et  vitreanum  fenestrarum  primus  omnium 
Angliam  asciverit  Will.  Malmsburiensis.  De  Gestis  Regum  Anglior.,  Lib.  I,, 
cap.  3. 

2  Edictum  Rotharis  Regis,  cap.  clvii. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


443 


Masons,  co-macinorum,  instead  of  the  meaning  usually 
given  —  Colleges  of  Como.  At  all  events,  when  these  ar- 
tificers appeared  in  Great  Britain,  in  the  year  672,  they 
brought  with  them  the  highest  skilled  labor,  a  profound 
knowledge  of  mechanical  or  technical  art,— the  most  ab- 
struse of  all  arts, — and  an  organization  developed  and  per- 
fected through  centuries,  possessing  the  undoubted  right 
to  live  and  be  governed  wheresoever  sojourning,  in  strict 
accordance  with  corporate  laws  which  had  been  successively 
allowed  and  affirmed  from  the  time  of  Constantine  the 
Great  to  Rothar,  King  of  the  Lombards,  in  the  year  643, 
or  within  thirty  years  of  their  appearance  in  England. 

From  this  but  one  conclusion  can  be  drawn :  that  in  the 
year  627  King  Edwin  could  not  have  been  Grand  Master 
of  a  body  of  skilled  Craftsmen,  because  there  was  at  that 
time  no  such  Assembly  around  the  walls  of  his  rude  edifice 
of  stone  and  mortar  at  York,  and  for  the  additional  reason 
that  an  uncivilized  ruler  had  no  recognition  as  the  head  of 
artificers  whose  science  represented  centuries  of  exalted 
periods  of  civilization  !  This  legend  is  equally  unfortu- 
nate on  the  basis  of  undisputed  history.  Our  venerable 
authority  expressly  states  that  the  object  of  Bishop  Bene- 
dict in  introducing  workmen  from  the  Gallic  provinces  in 
the  year  710  was  to  have  artificers  who  were  competent  to 
build  "a  church  in  the  style  of  the  Romans,"  which  signi- 
fies an  absolute  dearth  of  skilled  labor  in  England.1  His- 
tory, however,  settles  the  question  by  declaring  in  the  most 
positive  manner  that  "  Saint  Benedict  first  of  all  brought  artifi- 
cers into  England  who  could  build  stone  churches."2 

Halliwell's  manuscript  narrates  that  Masonic  Craft  came 
into  Europe  in  the  time  of  King  Athelstan,  whose  reign 
began  about  the  year  924,  and  continued  several  years. 


1  Architectos  sibi  mitti  petiit,  qui  juxta  morem  Romanorum  ecclesiam  de 
lapide  in  gente  ipsius  facerent.    Beda,  Hist.  Eccles.,  Lib,  V.,  cap.  21. 

2  Ibid.,  Lib.  I,  cap.  3. 


444 


THE  EARLY  HISTORY  AND 


"No  other  ancient  document  agrees  with  this  assertion. 
The  majority  of  Masonic  chronicles  refer  the  period  of  the 
appearance  of  Masonry  into  Britain  to  the  age  of  Saint 
Alban,  one  of  the  early  evangelist  martyrs,  many  centuries 
prior  to  the  time  of  Athelstan;  hut  they  all  agree  that  the 
Craft  came  from  abroad,  and  specify  Athelstan's  reign  as 
an  interesting  period  of  Masonic  history.  From  the  pre- 
ceding statement  it  will  be  observed  that  the  older  Craft 
chronicles  are  lacking  in  harmony  upon  vital  points  of 
tradition,  and  in  some  respects,  tested  by  their  own  records, 
are  totally  antagonistic.  From  the  historic  facts  already 
adduced,  it  is  very  clear  that,  in  case  the  ancient  Craftsmen 
were  for  the  first  time  brought  into  England  in  the  year 
672,  they  were  certainly  not  introduced  prior,  in  St. 
Alban's  age,  nor  later,  in  the  year  926,  when  Athelstan 
was  on  the  throne. 

In  the  seventh  century,  A.D.  672,  when  these  builders 
made  their  earliest  entrance  into  Britain,  they  brought 
with  them  certain  traditions,  which  had  maintained  an 
uninterrupted  existence  down  to  the  time  when  the  oldest 
English  record  was  drawn  up  which  professed  to  associate 
with  a  more  remote  period  of  the  fraternity  the  legend  of 
Holy  Four  Martyrs  of  the  age  of  Diocletian.  These  sainted 
personages  were  patrons  to  the  Venetian  Craftsmen  until 
the  year  1652,  when  the  guild  of  stonecutters  erected  an 
imposing  edifice,  in  which  they  assembled  for  Masonic 
labors.  This  hall  was  surmounted  by  a  bas-relief  effigy  of 
the  Four  Saints.1  This  vitalized  tradition  connected  the 
Masons  of  England  with  their  continental  precursors  in 
Germany,  who  also  possessed  it.  And  curiously  enough 
the  Halliwell  chronicle  makes  no  allusion  to  Charles  Mar- 
tel,  who  is  invariably  referred  to  in  Craft  records  written 
subsequent  to  the  fourteenth  century,  but  these  in  turn 
eschew  all  mention  of  the  martyrs  crowned.    The  Carlo- 


1  Mothes,  Oeschiehte  der  Baukunst  im  Venedig,  Theil  II.,  p.  295. 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  FREEMASONRY. 


445 


vingian  monarch  figures  conspicuously  as  patron  of  the 
Gallic  Masons  in  the  year  1254. 

It  may,  we  think,  be  asserted  as  within  the  limits  of  rea- 
sonable certainty  that,  from  the  reign  of  Athelstan  to  the 
Norman  conquest,  little  over  one  hundred  years,  there  is 
no  probability  that  a  legend  could  have  grown  up  which 
claimed  that  the  Craft  first  appeared  in  England  in  Athel- 
stan's  time.  At  no  period  during  the  stretch  of  years 
alluded  to  was  this  possible,  especially  as  the  converse  of 
such  assertion  must  have  been  known  to  the  generation  of 
Craftsmen  immediately  preceding  any  supposed  epoch  of 
the  origin  of  the  tradition.  We  may,  therefore,  safely  say 
that  from  the  death  of  Athelstan  to  the  Norman  conquest, 
in  1066,  no  tradition  associated  the  English  ruler  with  the 
introduction  of  Masons  into  his  kingdom.  With  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Normans  and  large  importation  of  French 
Craftsmen  into  England,  all  references  to  any  pre-eminence 
of  Anglo-Saxon  patrons  in  the  guilds  of  foreign  builders 
would  for  an  extended  period  of  time  be  carefully  excluded. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  enlarge  upon  the  total  and  abrupt 
change  which  ensued  in  the  conquered  country,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  radical  alteration  in  its  ancient  government 
by  the  relentless  exclusion  of  all  Anglo-Saxon  element  by 
the  Norman  invaders.  This  transformation  necessarily  af- 
fected, if  it  did  not  completely  eradicate,  the  native  build- 
ing corporations,  which  apparently  were  compelled  to  merge 
their  separate  existence  into  the  predominant  bodies  of  their 
confreres  from  France. 

It  may  well  be  conceded  that  after  the  modifying  influ- 
ences of  several  centuries  had  permitted  the  Anglo-Saxon 
admixture  of  the  Masonic  colleges  to  reappear,  in  exact 
proportion  as  the  different  nationalities  became  less  dis- 
tinctly marked  the  gradual  effort  was  begun  to  trace  Craft 
history  through  a  line  of  native  ascent  to  early  English 
sources.  At  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  the  guild 
of  builders  in  England  depending  on  oral  transmission  sug- 
38 


446  THE  EARLY  HISTORY,  ETC. 

gested  the  origin  of  their  Craft  in  Athelstan's  day.  Later 
records,  or  perhaps  chronicles  copied  in  remote  parts  of  the 
realm,  expanded  the  traditions  of  the  Fraternity,  and  added 
a  more  distant  commencement  in  the  age  of  Saint  Alban, 
introducing,  moreover,  the  name  of  Prince  Edwin,  together 
with  the  fabulous  Assembly  at  York.  It  is  perhaps  im- 
possible to  fix  a  date  for  the  legends  of  Edwin  and  Athel- 
stan,  but,  adhering  to  the  line  of  argument  adduced  in  the 
foregoing  article,  we  assert  that,  so  far  as  the  same  relates  to 
Athelstan,  it  is  no  earlier  than  the  fourteenth  century, 
while  the  tradition  of  Edwin  is  clearly  an  enlargement  of 
Craft  chronicles  of  the  fifteenth. 


\ 


APPENDIX. 


9 


A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  THE  HISTOEY  OF 
THE  LOST  WORD. 

By  Rev.  J.  F.  Garrison,  M.D. 

History  of  the  Lost  Word  —  Anxiety  of  the  Ancients  to  Know 
the  True  Name  —  Its  Presumed  Powers  —  The  Targums  —  The 
Sacred  Word  Traced  to  the  Jews  —  Jehovah,  or  J.  H.  V.  H.  — 
Substitute  —  Pronunciation  of  True  Name  Lost  —  How  Ke- 

CEIVED  BY  THE,  HlGH-PRIEST  —  SCRIPTURES  KEAD    IN   THE  JEWISH 

Synagogues — Temple  for  the  Name  —  Queen  of  Sheba  Visits 
Solomon  to  Obtain  the  "  Word  "  —  It  is  Concealed  in  a  Rod  — 
Its  Potency  —  Hindoo  Omnific  Word  —  Tetragrammaton  — 
Essenes  :  how  Constituted  —  Eagerness  to  Obtain  the  Divine 
Name — Abraxas  —  The  Gnostics  —  Cabala  —  Point  Within  a 
Circle  —  The  Yod  —  Light  —  Jewish  Wisdom,  Strength,  and 
Beauty  —  Jehovahs  in  Triangles  —  Three  Lighted  Candles  — 
Importance  of  Careful  Examination  of  this  Subject. 

HERE  can  be  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any  student  of 
ancient  philosophy  or  theology,  of  the  great  importance 
attached,  from  a  very  early  date,  and  among  many  nations, 
"X^i  to  the  knowledge  of  the  true  name  of  God. 
We  see  this  very  strongly  marked  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  both 
before  and  after  the  Divine  utterance  of  this  name  to  Moses  at  the 
foot  of  Horeb  (Ex.  vi.  3).  Jacob  asks  the  name  of  the  mysterious 
being  who  wrestled  with  him,  evidently  impressed  with  the  feeling 
that  it  was  a  Divine  visitant  with  whom  he  had  to  do  (Gen.  xxxii. 
29,  30),  for  he  says,  "  I  have  seen  God  face  to  face ;  "  so  also  Ma- 
noah  inquired  of  "  the  angel  of  Jehovah,"  "  What  is  thy  name  ?  " 
38  *  2D  449 


450 


APPENDIX. 


(Judges  xiii.  17,  18),  and  receives  for  answer,  "Why  asketh  thou 
thus  after  my  name,  for  it  is  secret?"  or,  as  in  the  marginal  render- 
ing, "  wonderful,  "  the  Hebrew  word  being  used  in  both  senses  ;  and 
this,  with  the  appearance  of  "  the  angel,"  overwhelms  him  with 
terror,  because  "  we  have  seen  God." 

It  was  unquestionably  the  influence  of  this  same  desire  to  know 
this  "secret"  or  "  wonderful"  name  (and  indeed  it  was  regarded 
as  both)  that  led  Moses  to  make  the  same  inquiry,  when  God 
called  to  him  from  the  "  burning  bush." 

The  origin  of  this  feeling  lies  among  the  unsolved  enigmas  of 
history ;  although,  if  I  were  treating  of  its  relation  to  theology, 
I  do  not  think  it  would  be  difficult  to  show  that  there  was  an  inti- 
mate and  essential  connection  between  the  divine  "  word  "  in  which 
God  expresses  his  own  nature,  and  some  of  the  deepest  problems  of 
creation  and  theology. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  origin  of  the  profound  venera- 
tion for  this  word,  this  wonderful  name,  to  which  I  have  referred, 
it  comes  to  us,  from  the  very  earliest  point  at  which  we  meet  with  it 
in  history,  invested  with  the  character  of  a  peculiar  and  most 
potent  charm  and  mystery.  The  importance  attached  to  jt  was 
not  merely  from  the  desire,  as  a  matter  of  simple  knowledge,  to  be 
possessed  of  the  true  name  of  God,  but  also,  and  in  the  later  periods 
mainly,  from  the  belief  that  there  were  certain  great  powers  belong- 
ing to  this  name :  that  they  who  knew  and  uttered  it,  with  the 
fitting  solemnities  and  accompaniments,  were  able,  by  these  means, 
to  perforin  great  wonders ;  had  mastery  over  the  elements ;  could 
evoke  and  control  the  demoniac  powers  of  the  unseen  world,  and 
exercise  a  portion  of  the  attributes  of  the  Divine  being,  whose 
nature  and  might  it  was  supposed  to  embody  and  express ;  and  also, 
that  its  trivial  or  blasphemous  use,  or  indeed  any  use  which  was 
not  guarded  by  special  solemnities  and  awe,  would  be  visited  by 
instant  death  upon  the  "  vain  "  trifler  with  this  exalted  and  mighty 
agency. 

The  danger  of  thus  taking  this  "  name  in  vain,"  is  shown  very 
clearly  in  many  of  the  Jewish  traditions,  and  comments  are  con- 
tained in  their  Targums,  as  the  ancient  translations  and  paraphrases 
of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  were  called. 

In  Leviticus  xxiv.  10,  11,  an  account  is  given  of  a  broil  between 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LOST  WORD. 


451 


"  the  son  of  an  Israelitish  woman,  whose  father  was  an  Egyptian, 
and  a  man  of  Israel ;  "  and  as  the  English  translation  renders  it, 
"  the  Israelitish  woman's  son  blasphemed  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
and  cursed ; "  and  Moses,  having  inquired  (v.  16)  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  received  for  answer,  "  he  that  blasphemeth  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  shall  surely  be  put  to  death  ; "  and  in  accordance  with  this 
command,  they  took  him  "  without  the  camp,  and  stoned  him  with 
stones."  The  Targums,1  in  their  paraphrase,  make  the  mere  un- 
warranted utterance  of  the  word  to  have  been  the  gravamen  of  the 
offence :  the  Targum  of  Onkelos  says,  "  he  gave  expression  to  the 
name  and  execrated,"  "and  that  he  uttered  the  name  that  is 
alone,"  and  it  announces  the  reply  of  Jehovah  to  the  inquiry  of 
Moses  (v.  16)  thus :  "  He  who  expresseth  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
dying  he  shall  die."  The  Palestine  Targum  shows  the  pro- 
found awe  which  was  attached  to  the  mere  saying  of  the  word,  in 
its  comment  on  the  opening  words  of  the  exquisite  song  of  Moses 
(Deut.  xxxii.  3),  "  I  will  publish  the  name  of  the  Lord  ; "  on 
which  it  adds,  "Mosheh,  who  was  the  doctor  of  Israel,  could  not 
permit  himself  to  pronounce  the  holy  name  until  he  had  dedicated 
his  mouth,  at  the  beginning  of  his  hymn,  with  eighty  and  five 
letters,  making  twenty  and  one  words : "  for,  says  the  Jerusalem 
Targum,  "  It  is  not  possible,  even  to  one  of  the  highest  angels,  to 
utter  that  name  rightly,  until  they  have  said  holy,  holy,  holy,  thrice 
[note  here  the  three  times  three].  And  from  them  Mosheh  learned 
not  to  utter  that  name  openly,  until  he  shall  have  dedicated  his 
mouth  .  .  .  and  after  that,  he  says,  Hear  ye  heavens,  it  is  the 
name  of  the  Lord." 

This  conviction  of  the  transcendent  eminence  of  "  the  word " 
expressing  the  Divine  name  was  not,  however,  by  any  means  pecu- 
liar to  the  Jews ;  and  I  shall  have  occasion,  later  on,  to  trace  some 
of  its  relations  to  the  theology  and  philosophy  of  other  of  the 
ancient  peoples. 

Our  fullest  information  regarding  it  comes  from  the  Hebrew 
literature;  and,  as  our  interest  in  it,  as  Masons,  belongs  almost 
wholly  to  the  characters  with  which  it  has  been  clothed  in  Jewish 
history  and  tradition,  I  shall  first  examine  these,  in  some  detail, 
and  then,  connecting  this  with  the  remains  of  the  same  thought,  ,as 

1  The  references  to  the  Targums  are  all  taken  from  Etheridge's  translations. 


452 


APPENDIX. 


they  have  been  preserved  by  other  nations,  I  shall  endeavor  to 
point  out  the  line  by  which  it  has  been  handed  down  to  modern 
times,  and  through  which  we,  as  Masons,  have  become  the  sole 
inheritors  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  beautiful  of  all  the 
truths  or  traditions  of  the  world's  primeval  ages. 

It  is  certainly  a  most  curious  fact  in  history,  that  the  living 
memory  of  this  strange  truth  or  speculation  (whichever  it  may  be 
called),  once  so  potent  in  its  influence,  so  widely  spread  and 
strictly  guarded,  should  be  retained  for  modern  times  in  the  mys- 
terious order  of  successors  to  the  ancient  builders,  and  in  this 
shrine  alone. 

The  writers  of  the  Christian  church  make  mention,  in  their  com- 
mentaries on  the  Bible  and  histories  of  the  church,  that  there 
was  some  great  virtue  thought,  by  the  Jews,  to  belong  to  the 
uttered  name  of  the  true  God,  but  almost  universally  dismiss  it 
with  only  the  passing  sneer  of  "  idle  superstition." 

The  Jewish  people  still  maintain  a  reverence  for  the  holy  name, 
which  makes  those  who  are  devout  always  write  it  with  another 
pen,  and  speak  another  word,  with  softened  voice,  instead  of  its  too 
solemn,  venerated  sounds. 

It  is  only  in  the  Masonic  order  that  the  "  Divine  Word  "  is 
a  living  reality,  and  subject  of  interest  to  the  thought  of  our 
modern  world. 

The  vast  significance  attached  to  the  name  of  God  among  the 
Jews,  is  shown  by  the  very  frequent,  and  often  peculiar,  use  in  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures  of  such  expressions  as,  in  "  the  Name,"  and  by 
"  my  Name,"  when  referring  to  the  actual  presence  and  operation 
of  the  Divine  Being ;  and  very  many  times,  where  we  would  feel  it 
awkward  to  use  such  a  phrase,  and  would  think  it  far  more  natural 
and  fitting  to  say  directly,  "  God  was,"  or  "  God  did,"  or  "  God 
said,"  thus  and  so. 

We  are  so  accustomed  to  the  expressions  of  the  Bible  in  this 
form,  that  we  do  not  recognize  how  peculiar  and  remarkable  they 
are,  nor  how  unlike  the  Bible  is,  in  this  respect  (both  the  Old  Tes- 
tament and  the  New),  to  all  our  present  style  of  thought,  and  even 
to  the  ordinary  usage  of  all  the  other  writings  on  religion  or 
philosophy  among  the  ancient  nations. 

To  cite  all  the  passages  in  which  "  the  Name,"  or  "  His  Name,"  or 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LOST  WORD. 


453 


"  the  Name  of  the  Lord,"  is  employed  as  equivalent  to  the  Divine 
power,  or  Divine  self,  would  be  to  transcribe  a  large  portion  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  not  a  few  extracts  from  the  New. 

The  mere  references  to  the  word  "  Name  "  occupy  five  long  and 
closely-printed  columns  in  Cruden's  Concordance,  and  a  very  large 
proportion  of  these  show  the  use  of  the  word  in  some  of  the  forms 
which  I  have  indicated ;  and  I  will  only  commend  to  those  who  are 
interested  in  this  matter,  and  especially  in  the  Masonic  relations  to 
"  the  Name,"  to  note  the  frequency  with  which  the  phrase  is  thus 
applied,  and  the  significant  allusions  with  which  its  employment  is 
very  often  accompanied. 

It  will  be  necessary  here  to  state  some  facts  concerning  our 
English  version  of  the  Bible,  and  the  form  in  which  it  presents  the 
"  Divine  Word,"  for  in  this  very  form  we  have  a  marked  illustra- 
tion of  the  prevailing  influence  of  just  that  profound  reverence 
and  awe  of  the  holy  name  of  which  I  have  been  speaking ; 
and  it  will  be  essential,  to  a  correct  study  of  the  Bible,  to  go 
behind  the  words  which  our  translators,  in  certain  cases,  have 
employed,  and  to  insert  the  original  and  true  Hebrew  reading  in 
their  stead.  This  is  especially  necessary  for  a  right  understanding 
of  the  continually  recurring  phrase  "  the  Lord,"  which  meets  us 
on  almost  every  page  of  the  Old  Testament. 

You  will  find  this,  in  every  correctly  printed  English  Bible, 
occurring  in  two  kinds  of  type ;  one,  the  ordinary  type  of  the 
accompanying  text,  "  the  Lord  "  ;  here  it  is  simply  a  title  of  respect 
or  dignity,  or  an  ordinary  English  form,  "  my  Lord  so  and  so." 

It  is  very  often  found  printed  in  small  capitals,  "the  Lord." 
In  all  these  cases  it  indicates  the  original  to  be  the  Hebrew  word, 
J.  H.  V.  H. —  the  original  Hebrew  letters  being  HUT,  Yodh,  He, 
Vau,  He.  Hence,  whenever  you  see  the  form  "the  Lord,"  let  it 
always  be  read  as  if,  instead  of  this,  it  were  the  Hebrew  word 
J.  H.  V.  H.,  for  this  is  what  it  stands  for.  I  will  now  proceed  to 
trace  .the  way  in  which  this  form  came  to  be  adopted. 

The  change  itself  is  the  result  of  the  terror  of  expressing  the 
Divine  name,  to  which  I  referred  in  the  quotation  from  the  Targum 
upon  Lev.  xxiv.  10,  11 ;  and  also  from  a  fear  of  incurring  the 
curse,  thought  to  have  the  same  import,  in  their  understanding  of 
the  third  commandment,  whose  correct  reading  is,  "  Thou  shalt  not 


454 


APPENDIX. 


lift  up  (or  utter)  the  name  J.  H.  V.  H.,  thy  God,  to  vanity, "  i.  e., 
idly,  in  a  foolish  or  deceitful  way. 

In  order  to  avoid  the  curse  which  they  imagined  was  thus 
threatened  against  any  "vain"  or  unreverential  uttering  of  the 
sacred  word,  they  carefully  abstained  from  every  use  of  it  in  com- 
mon conversation,  or  their  ordinary  writing ;  they  generally  used 
instead  of  it,  when  speaking,  the  word  "  Adonah  "  or  "  Adonai," 
which  was  a  title  of  high  dignity,  like  our  English  title  of 
"  my  lord,"  and  also  was  one  of  the  less  sacred  designations  of  the 
Almighty. 

When  they  came  to  the  mystic  J.  H.  V.  H.,  in  reading  the 
Hebrew  Bible,  they  always  said,  in  place  of  these,  this  same  "  sub- 
stitute "  Adonah ;  and  in  the  transcription  of  the  manuscripts  of 
Holy  Writ,  their  scribes,  we  are  informed,  were  constantly  accus- 
tomed either  to  write  these  venerated  letters  with  a  pen  especially 
reserved  for  them,  or  else  to  cleanse  the  one  they  were  employing, 
with  the  utmost  care,  before  they  ventured  to  insert  the  sacred 
name,  which  they  so  dreaded  "  to  lift  up  in  vanity." 

The  only  person  by  whom  the  real  word  was  ever  uttered,  with 
its  true  pronunciation,  was  the  Great  High-Priest  of  the  Jewish 
worship:  and  their  uniform  tradition  is,  that  he  employed  it  only 
in  the  most  solemn  form  of  benediction,  at  the  close  of  certain  of 
the  temple  services,  and  when  he  went,  once  a  year,  on  the  great 
day  of  atonement,  into  the  awe-inspiring  inner  chamber  of  the 
sanctuary,  the  Holiest  of  Holies,  or  Sanctum  Sanctorum. 

This  latter  occasion  seems,  after  a  time,  to  have  become  the  only 
condition  under  which  it  was  pronounced  at  all  —  the  "substi- 
tute" Adonah  being  used,  even  in  the  solemn  benediction,  the 
same  as  it  was  in  all  ordinary  conversation  when  the  name  of  God 
was  spoken  of. 

So  that,  for  many  generations,  it  is  probable  "the  Divine  Word" 
was  uttered  only  on  one  day  of  the  year,  and  by  one  man,  in  all 
the  Jewish  nation. 

On  that  day,  the  grandest  and  most  awful  ceremonial  of  the 
sublime  temple  service  (the  atoneinent  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
people)  was  performed. 

The  high-priest  sanctified  himself  for  days  before  by  the  most 
careful  preparation,  in  solitude  and  prayer,  that  no  unholiness  or 


HISTORY  OF  TEE  LOST  WORD. 


455 


impurity  should  bring  on  him  the  curse  of  death  when  he  should 
pass  behind  the  mystic  veil,  and  stand  in  the  blazing  presence  of 
the  divine  glory  within  the  "holiest  place  of  all." 

When,  therefore,  the  solemn  hour  arrives,  in  dread  and  wonder, 
with  smoking  censer  and  basin  of  the  fresh  shed  blood  to  sprinkle 
on  the  mercy-seat,  he  goes  alone  into  the  awful  sanctuary,  and  reads 
there,  by  the  light  of  the  shekinah,  the  letters  of  the  mighty  name, 
"  put  there"  (1  Kings  ix.  3)  by  the  Divine  command ;  and  by  that 
name  calls  on  the  one  true  God,  who  has  revealed  Himself  in  it ; 
and  by  that  name  prays  Him  for  the  forgiveness  and  atonement 
of  his  sinning,  but  repentant  people  Israel. 

With  our  ideas  of  written  language,  all  these  precautions  and 
solemnities  attached  to  any  word  would  indicate  great  reverence 
towards  the  being  whom  it  named,  and  might  inculcate  a  proper 
sense  of  the  veneration  due  to  it  and  him,  but  could,  in  no  way, 
prevent  our  knowledge  of  the  word  itself,  nor  materially  affect  our 
true  pronunciation  of  it. 

It  was  entirely  different,  however,  under  the  mode  in  which  the 
Hebrew  language,  while  a  living. tongue,  Avas  written. 

We  now  write  out,  or  print,  each  word  in  full,  inserting  both 
*  the  consonants  and  vowels ;  hence  we  would  write  the  name  of  our 
Order  thus,  Masonic ;  but  in  the  Hebrew  manuscripts,  from  the 
earliest  age  down  to  a  period  probably  long  after  Christ,  they  only 
wrote  the  consonants,  and  left  the  vowels  (by  which  these  should 
be  sounded,  and  consequently  the  true  pronunciation  given  to  the 
word)  to  be  conveyed  and  handed  down,  from  age  to  age,  entirely 
by  the  living  teacher.  In  writing,  the  only  letters  of  the  title  of 
the  Order  would  have  been  M.  S.  N.  C. ;  but  whether  these  stood 
really  for  Mu-so-nac,  Mi-se-nuc,  or  Ma-son-ic,  could  be  known 
only  to  those  who  had  actually  heard  the  right  pronunciation 
from  some  one  who  had  himself  been  rightly  taught.  If,  there- 
fore, the  correct  sounds  had  not  been  uttered  openly  for  centuries, 
the  very  word  itself  would  have  become  unknown  to  the  great  body 
of  the  people.  If  those  who  did  know  it  should  have  failed  to 
preserve  and  hand  it  down  for  even  a  single  generation,  it  would 
become  a  "lost  word;"  and  without  some  supernatural  melhod 
of  recovery  should  intervene,  would,  in  all  probability,  be  lost 
forever. 


456 


APPENDIX. 


Now,  just  this  was,  in  fact,  the  history  of  the  sacred  name 
J.  H.  V.  H.  Little  by  little  its  use  became  less  frequent ;  it 
never  was  heard  in  common  conversation ;  the  readers  of  the 
Scriptures  in  the  synagogues,  when  they  came  to  it,  always  said 
its  substitute,  "Adonah,  the  Lord."  After  a  time,  it  was  never 
uttered  except  by  the  Great  High-Priest  upon  the  solemn  day  of 
the  atonement.  He  used  it  as  the  word  with  which  he  drew 
nigh  to  God,  as  he  passed  into  the  Sanctum  Sanctorum,  the  Holiest 
of  Holies ;  and  only  when  he  stood  within  that  solemn  presence 
was  it  audibly  pronounced. 

In  the  fear  lest  he  should  die  without  provision  for  its  knowl- 
edge when  the  same  dread  solemnity  should  again  demand  its 
use,  the  officiating  priest,  so  Hebrew  tradition  tells  us,  took  his 
next  successor  into  the  outer  holy,  and  there,  in  whispered  tones, 
gave  him  the  sacred  "  secret  word,"  with  binding  oath  never  by 
him  to  be  repeated,  except  in  the  same  way  and  manner  in  which 
he  had  himself  received  it. 

So,  while  the  first  temple  stood,  the  true  word  passed  on  down 
from  age  to  age,  although,  for  a  long  time  perhaps,  in  the  sole  line 
of  the  high-priests ;  but  in  some  of  the  after  civil  dissensions  and 
captivities  of  the  Jews,  some  one  of  the  high-priests  failed  to  give 
it  to  his  successor,  or  the  last  one  in  possession  of  it  perished ; 
and  thus,  once  "  lost,"  there  was  no  source  from  which  it  could  be 
again  supplied,  and  nothing  remained  but,  ever  afterward,  to 
use  the  substitute  "Adonah  "  when  the  Divine  name  was  spoken 
of,  and  to  write  the  sacred  four  letters,  HliT,  J.  H.  V.  H.,  without 
the  knowledge  of  the  real  word  which  they  denoted. 

So  that  from  that  time  on  the  true  name  of  the  living  God  was  a 
"  lost  word  "  to  men  ;  and  the  two  forms  under  which  we  have  it  in 
our  English  version,  which  are  sometimes  "  the  Lord,"  and  some- 
times JeHoVaH,  are  both  derived  from  the  employment  of  Adonah 
as  the  substitute,  and  in  the  following  ways :  Ptolemy  Philadel- 
phus,  one  of  the  Greek  dynasty  of  the  kings  of  Egypt,  desired, 
about  280  b.  c,  to  have  among  the  books  in  a  large  library  he 
was  collecting,  a  translation  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  into  Greek. 
The  version,  we  are  told,  was  made  by  seventy  of  the  most  learned 
and  pious  Jews  in  Egypt,  and  hence  is  called  the  "  Translation  of 
the  LXX,"  or  the  Septuagint;  and  these  translators,  whenever 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LOST  WORD. 


457 


they  came  to  the  mystic  letters  J.  H.  V.  H.,  always  rendered  them 
by  the  Greek  words  6  xvptoj,  meaning  exactly  the  same  as  Adonah, 
"the  Lord." 

As  this  Greek  version  was  of  high  authority  with  the  trans- 
lators of  the  English  Bible,  these  followed  its  example,  and  mostly 
rendered  the  Greek  words  6  xupioj  into  their  English  form,  "  the 
Lord  ;"  but  as  they  wished  to  signify  where  this  was  used  as  only 
a  title  of  respect,  and  where  as  a  substitute  for  the  Holy  Name, 
they  had  it  printed  in  small  capitals,  "  the  Lord,"  whenever  it  stood 
for  the  word  J.  H.  V.  H.  in  Hebrew,  and  thus  the  form  "  the  Lord" 
came  into  our  text.  The  English  version  sometimes,  also,  uses  the 
word  JeHoVaH,  as  if  this  were  the  real  Hebrew  of  the  Holy  Name 
transferred  directly  to  our  Bible.  But  this  is  certainly  not  the  true 
form  of  the  lost  word. 

Some  time,  we  know  not  exactly  when,  after  the  Christian  era, 
the  Jewish  rabbis,  fearing  lest,  in  the  dispersion  of  the  nation,  their 
language  would  be  entirely  lost,  began  to  insert  little  marks  into 
their  manuscripts  of  holy  wrrit,  in  order  to  signify  the  vowels 
which  belonged  to  every  word,  and  by  the  aid  of  which  it  might  be 
read  aright ;  but  when  they  came  to  the  word  J.  H.  V.  H.  they  did 
not  know  what  its  true  vowels  were,  and  if  they  had,  most  proba- 
bly would  not  have  put  them  in  ;  but  following  still  their  notion  of 
its  substitute,  gave  to  the  sacred  consonants  the  vowel  sounds  of 
the  word  Adonah,  and  wrote  the  Holy  Name  as  JeHoVaH,  which 
is  thus  formed  by  the  insertion  of  vowels  which  do  not  belong  to  it ; 
and  it,  consequently,  is  not  the  sacred  word  at  all,  but  only  the 
rabbinical  perversion  of  it,  and  leaves  us  as  far  from  a  knowledge 
of  the  true  Name  as  we  were  before. 

This  hurried  outline  of  the  mode  in  which  the  holy  word  was 
lost,  accords  with  the  preeminence  attached  to  the  name  of  God  in 
all  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  and  in  all  the  remains  of  their  traditions 
and  interpretations  of  the  Scriptures. 

The  most  important  of  these  last  are  what  are  called  "  the  Tar- 
gums."  These  are  the  authorized  translations  and  paraphrases 
explanatory  of  the  sacred  text,  which  were  read  in  the  synagogues 
after  the  Hebrew  tongue  had  ceased  to  be  a  living  language.  The 
reader  of  the  day  read  in  the  Hebrew  text  the  portion  of  the  Scrip- 
39 


\ 


458  APPENDIX. 


ture  which  was  appointed  for  the  service,  paragraph  by  paragraph  ; 
and  as  he^closed  each  sentence,  one  standing  by  him  read  a  trans- 
lation of  the  paragraph  into  the  common  language.  This,  often- 
times, was  also  a  short  explanation  of  the  meaning  of  the  text,  as  it 
was  then  taken  by  the  rabbis.  These  we  have  still  preserved  to  us 
in  nearly,  if  not  precisely,  the  very  forms  in  which  they  were  read 
in  the  synagogues  at  the  Christian  era,  and  they  are  what  I  have 
referred  to  by  the  name  of  Targums.  Whether  we  take  their  ex- 
planations  as  correct  or  not,  they  give  us,  as  no  other  writings  can, 
the  mode  in  which  the  Jewish  scholars  then,  and  for  centuries 
before,  had  understood  their  sacred  Scriptures;  and  in  these  we 
learn  very  fully  how  they  regarded  the  Divine  Name,  even  more 
clearly  than  by  its  ordinary  usage  in  the  Bible. 

The  Bible  employs  "  the  Name,"  or  "  my  Name,"  etc.,  very  con- 
stantly, and  often  as  an  equivalent  of  the  Divine  presence,  or  the 
power  of  God  ;  but  as  its  wont  is,  leaves  the  mere  use  of  it  to  be  its 
own  interpreter.  Thus  it  says  of  the  future  tabernacle  and  temple 
(Ex.  xx.  24),  "  Where  I  record  my  Name,  I  will  come  unto  thee ;" 
of  Solomon  (2  Sam.  vii.  13),  "He  shall  build  an  house  for  My 
Name."  It  calls  the  temple  (1  Kings  ix.  3),  "  The  house  thou  hast 
built  to  put  My  Name  there."  "  Let  us  exalt  His  Name,"  saith 
the  Psalmist;  "  How  excellent  is  Thy  Name  in  all  the  earth,"  "  The 
Name  of  the  God  of  Jacob  defend  thee,"  "  Our  help  is  in  the  Name 
of  the  Lord."  The  Queen  of  Sheba  came  to  Solomon  "  when  she 
(1  Kings  x.  1)  heard  his  fame  concerning  the  Name  J.  H.  V.  H."  (of 
the  Lord).  Elijah  brings  fire  down  on  his  sacrifice  upon  Carmel, 
by  calling  on  "the  Name  J.  H.  V.  H."  (of  the  Lord)  ;  and  Malachi 
closes  the  Old  Testament,  "  My  Name  shall  be  great  among  the 
heathen"  (Mai.  i.  11),  and  "a  book  of  remembrance  was  written 
before  him  for  them  that  feared  J.  H.  V.  H  (the  Lord),  (Mai.  iii. 
16),  and  thought  upon  his  Name." 

So  also  in  the  New  Testament,  Jesus  says  of  himself  (John  x.  25), 
"  the  works  that  I  do  in  my  Father's  Name,  they  bear  witness  of 
me."  He  embodies  his  thought  of  his  own  life  (John  xvii.  6), 
"  I  have  manifested  thy  Name  to  the  men  whom  thou  gavest  me." 
His  model  prayer  contains  "  Hallowed  be  thy  Name."  The  formula 
by  which  He  orders  his  disciples  to  baptize  the  nations  is,  "  Into 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LOST  WORD. 


459 


the  Name  of  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost ; "  the 
Seventy  return  to  him  exultant  in  the  fact  that  "  even  the  devils 
are  subject  unto  us  through  thy  Name  "  (Luke  x.  17).  Peter  and 
John,  after  His  resurrection,  bid  the  same  man,  "  in  the  Name  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  rise  up  and  walk"  (Acts  iii.  6).  When  the 
sanhedrin  (Acts  iv.  7)  asked,  "By  what  power  or  by  what  Name 
have  ye  done  this  ?  "  Peter  replied,  "  By  the  Name  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Nazareth  doth  this  man  stand  here  before  you  whole." 

These  passages  are  but  a  very  few  among  the  great  number  in 
which  the  supremacy,  and  might,  and  presence  of  the  Divine  Being 
are  expressed  by  "  the  Name,"  or  regarded  as  inherent  in  and  be- 
longing to  it.  And  this  is  still  more  strikingly  apparent  in  the 
paraphrases  of  the  Targums. 

According  to  one  of  these  (Ex.  ii.),  when  Moses  came  to  the 
house  of  the  priest  of  Midian,  after  his  first  flight  from  Egypt,  he 
there  was  "  showed  the  rod  which  was  created  between  the  evenings, 
and  on  which  was  engraven  and  set  forth  the  great  and  glorious 
Name  with  which  he  was  to  do  the  wonders  in  Mizraim."  Pha- 
raoh is  represented  (Ex.  v.  2)  as  saying,  "  Who  is  Yeva  (the  Tar- 
gum  form  of  the  Divine  name),  that  I  should  obey  His  voice  ?  I 
have  not  found  the  Name  of  the  Lord  in  the  book  of  the  angels, 
of  Him  I  am  not  afraid,  etc."  The  power  of  the  Urim  and  Thum- 
mim  (Ex.  xxviii.)  was  because  "  in  them  was  engraven  and  ex- 
pressed the  great  and  holy  Name  by  which  were  created  the  three 
hundred  and  ten  .worlds,  and  which  was  engraven  and  expressed  in 
the  foundation  stone  wherewith  the  Lord  of  hosts  sealed  up  the 
mouth  of  the  great  deep  at  the  beginning,  whosoever  remembereth 
that  word  in  the  hour  of  necessity  shall  be  delivered."  "  They  shall 
worship  the  Name  Yeva  only."  (On  Ex.  xxii.  20).  One  especial 
enormity,  of  the  making  of  the  golden  calf  at  Sinai,  was  (Ex.  xxx. 
25)  that  it  was  made  of  the  crowns  upon  the  heads  of  the  people, 
given  them  at  Horeb,  and  "  which  were  inscribed  and  beautified 
with  the  great  and  glorious  Name,"  "  which  was  set  forth  at  Horeb." 

I  might  multiply  extracts  to  this  same  effect  almost  indefinitely, 
both  from  the  Bible  and  the  various  remains  of  ancient  Hebrew  tra- 
dition, but  the  above  establish,  beyond  question,  the  supreme  import- 
ance attached  by  the  Jews  to  the  possession  and  the  use  of  this 
once-revealed,  but  now  lost,  name  of  God.    I  now  turn  to  mark 


460 


APPENDIX. 


the  traces  of  the  same  opinion  among  certain  of  the  Gentile 
nations. 

The  Vedas,  the  sacred  hymns  of  the  Hindus,  always  begin  with 
the  word  AUM,  which1  is,  by  some  writers,  explained  to  be  com- 
posed of  the  initial  letters  of  the  names  of  their  three  principal 
gods  ;  by  others,  as  an  ancient  form  of  the  word  meaning  "that," 
implying  the  undefined  and  indefinable  nature  of  original  source 
of  all  existence.  In  either  case,  as  a  designation  of  the  ineffable 
Name  of  the  supreme  source  of  being,  and  a  word  of  mystical 
significance  and  power,  and  under  the  form  of  Om  it  is  still  so  re- 
garded by  the  Buddhists  throughout  all  Eastern  Asia. 

Herodotus  (450  b.  c.)  refers  many  times  to  a  sacred  name  for 
their  deity  among  the  Egyptians,  which  they  were  unable  or  unwill- 
ing to  alter.  In  the  Book  of  the  Dead,  which  was  a  roll  deposited 
with  every  dead  body,  to  be  the  record  of  his  hope  in  eternity,  we  find, 
among  other  expressions  about  their  gods,  these,  or  similar  ones,  often 
recurring :  "  I  am  the  Great  God,  existing  of  myself,  the  creator  of 
his  Name ;"  "  I  know  the  Name  of  this  Great  God  that  is  there." 

Plato  expresses  the  feelings  of  Socrates  (in  Philebus),  "the 
dread  which  I  always  feel  as  regards  the  names  of  the  gods  is 
beyond  even  the  greatest  fear."  Pythagoras,  as  is  well  known, 
made  the  reverence  for  the  "  four-lettered  word,"  or,  as  it  is  called 
in  Greek,  the  Tetragrammaton,  or  Tetractys,  one  of  the  essential 
elements  of  his  instruction :  and  this  word  was  the  Name  of  the 
supreme  deity.2  It  was  the  oath  by  which  he  always  swore,  as 
the  most  solemn  and  binding  of  all.  One  of  his  disciples  says, 
"  There  is  nothing  in  the  whole  world  which  does  not  depend  upon 
the  Tetractys,  as  its  root  and  principle,  for  it  is  the  Maker  of  all 
things,  the  intelligible  God." 

The  source  whence  he  derived  this  notion,  and  even  the  mystical 
word  itself,  have  been  the  subjects  of  much  inquiry  with  scholars ; 
but,  seeing  that  he  travelled  twenty  years  in  Egypt,  Persia,  Chal- 
dea,  Sidon,  and  Crete,  I  think  it  scarcely  possible  he  should  not 
have  come  in  contact  with  the  Jews,  and  hence  agree  with  Cud- 
worth,  "  that  the  Tetractys  was  nothing  else  but  the  proper  Name 
of  the  Supreme  God  among  the  Hebrews."  This,  more  espe- 
cially, as  the  Greek  word  Iao  and  the  Latin  Jove,  both  which 


1  Hardwicke,  Christ  and  Other  Masters,  p.  125. 


2  Oudworth,  Vol.  II.,  14. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LOST  WORD. 


are  evidently  fragments  of  the  Hebrew  sacred  name,  were  titles  or 
designations  among  each  people  of  their  chief  deity  ;  and  show  that, 
somehow  or  other,  a  partial  knowledge  of  this  holy  word  had,  at  a 
very  early  date,  extended  to  them  as  well  as  to  the  Jews. 

The  opinions  of  Pythagoras  on  this  have  an  especial  interest  to 
the  Masonic  student,  from  the  high  place  he  holds  in  the  traditions 
of  the  Order.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  it  was  his  teaching 
about  the  "secret  word"  which  brought  his  name  and  doctrines 
into  connection  with  certain  of  the  later  schools  of  Jewish  specu- 
lation ;  and  thus,  about  the  period  of  the  Christian  era,  combined 
together,  in  a  union  which  has  been  ever  since  maintained,  these 
similar,  yet  heretofore  widely-separated,  elements  of  Egyptian  the- 
ology, Greek  speculation,  and  Hebrew  tradition  and  Scriptures. 

The  first  of  the  associations  in  which  these  elements  are  found 
thus  joined,  was  the  mysterious  order  of  the  Essenes. 

These  are  generally  spoken  of  as  merely  a  sect  of  the  Jews ;  but 
neither  in  their  tenets  nor  their  locality  were  they  exclusively 
Jewish.  Their  doctrines  were  contained  in  certain  mystical  inter- 
pretations of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  received  from  ancient  tradi- 
tion handed  down  from  time  immemorial  by  oral  transmission, 
and  preserved  with  the  most  profound  care  and  secrecy ;  while  in 
their  discipline  of  life,  they  were  so  nearly  like  the  teachings  of 
Pythagoras,  that  Hippolytus  (a.  d.  250)  says  of  them : 1  "  They 
were  in  Egypt  in  the  time  of  Pythagoras,  and  most  of  his  ideas 
were  derived  from  them." 

So  far  were  they  from  being  merely  a  narrow  Jewish  sect, 
we  are  told  by  Philo,  the  Jew,2  that,  although  they  were  most 
numerous  in  Egypt  and  Palestine,  "  they  were  dispersed  through 
many  parts  of  the  world,  as  they  thought  it  requisite  that  both 
Greeks  and  barbarians  should  partake  of  so  excellent  a  benefit" 

Their  name  Essene  is  interpreted,  by  Westcott,3  as  meaning  "  the 
silent  or  mysterious,"  and  all  their  discipline  was  in  strict  accord- 
ance with  their  name. 

In  every  city  where  they  had  a  society,  there  was  a  president,  by 
whom  all  their  affairs  were  regulated.  When  any  one  desired 
initiation  he  was  admitted  on  probation  for  a  year,  receiving,  on 

1  Hippolytus,  Bk.  IX.,  22.  2  Prideaux  Connexions,  Vol.  II.,  232. 

3  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  "  Essene." 

39* 


462 


APPENDIX. 


his  entrance,  a  white  apron  or  girdle,  and  a  small  pick-axe.  At 
the  end  of  this  probation,  if  he  had  given  satisfaction,  he  was 
advanced  to  a  higher  degree,  but  still  was  not  admitted  to  their 
private  meetings.  In  this  second  stage  he  continued  for  two  years 
longer,  and,  if  then  thought  worthy,  was  raised  to  a  full  mem- 
bership. 

Before  admission  to  the  highest  grade,  he  took  most  dreadful 
oaths :  to  believe  and  worship  God,  to  be  just  to  all  men,  that  he 
will  conceal  the  mysteries  of  the  sect,  and  not  communicate  them 
to  any  one  not  a  member,  and  preserve  with  equal  care  the  books 
of  the  order,  and  the  names  of  the  angels.  On  this,  Dollinger1 
remarks :  "  In  their  estimation,  the  sun  was  a  living  being,  and 
without  doubt  he  had  a  Name  to  be  kept  secret."  He  is  correct 
about  "  the  secret  name ; "  but  it  was  undoubtedly  the  mystic  name 
of  God,  and  there  is  no  proof  whatever  that  it  had  any  reference 
to  the  sun  as  a  living  being. 

They  furthermore  vow  not  to  deliver  their  doctrines,  to  any  of 
the  brethren  even,  otherwise  than  as  they  have  themselves  received 
them. 

They  were  allowed  to  practise  any  of  the  peaceful  arts,  and  did 
their  work,  after  certain  prayers  offered  in  certain  ancient  forms, 
under  the  direction  of  the  superiors  of  the  society.  About  noon 
they  assemble  in  their  private  room,  each  with  a  white  linen  apron 
on  him,  and  while  at  their  meal  are  exhorted  by  the  elders  to 
moderation  —  not  to  pervert  the  purposes  of  refreshment  to  those  of 
intemperance  or  excess.  No  disorder  or  unbrotherly  conduct  was 
allowed  among  them.  Their  three  main  topics  of  instruction  were : 
love  to  God,  to  virtue,  and  to  their  neighbor.  They  also  divided 
the  day  into  three  equal  parts — eight  hours  for  study,  eight  hours 
for  prayer  and  rest,  and  eight  hours  for  labor.  One  of  their  main 
doctrines  was  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  Enfield 2  says  of 
them,  "  they  were  a  fraternity  formed  for  the  purpose  of  subduing 
their  passions."  No  women  ever  were  admitted  to  any  branches 
of  the  society,  and  some  of  them  forbid  marriage  to  their  mem- 
bers, but  in  others  they  were  left  free  to  do  as  they  should  please 
in  this. 


1  The  Oentile  and  Jew,  Vol  II.,  314. 

2  History  of  Philosophy,  394. 


463 


I  have  sketched  only  a  bare  outline  of  this  "  mysterious  "  order, 
but  enough,  I  am  sure,  to  demonstrate  to  every  Mason  that,  how- 
ever we  may  account  for  it,  it  possesses  many  points  of  deepest 
interest  to  every  student  of  the  history  of  Masonry  ;  and  also  that  it 
forms  one  of  the  links  in  the  transmission  of  the  lost  word  to  the 
Gentile  nations. 

With  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  the  interest  in  the  Old 
Testament  was  almost  wholly  centred  in  their  study  of  its  relations 
to  "the  Christ,"  and  from  this  came  a  corresponding  neglect  of  all 
the  Jewish  studies  and  traditions. 

Hence,  among  the  "  orthodox  "  church  writers  there  is  not  very 
much  said  about  "  the  sacred  name."  But  the  opinion  that  there 
was  some  great  mystery  contained  in  it  still  held  its  place  among 
the  accepted  traditions  of  the  church. 

Clement,  of  Alexandria  (in  Egypt,  a.  d.  200),  says  : 1  "  The 
mystics  say  it  was  by  this  word  that  Moses  slew  the  Egyptian, 
and  by  speaking  it  Saint  Peter  destroyed  those  who  appropriated 
the  land  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  lied  about  it,"  while  he 
adds  also,  that  it  was  engraven  on  the  pillars  of  the  Holiest  of 
Holies,  from  which  hung  the  sacred  veil — one  letter  on  each  of 
the  four  pillars — that  it  might  thus  be  known  only  to  those  who 
entered  into  the  mysterious  adytum. 

Origen  2  attaches  so  much  importance  to  the  possession  and  use 
of  the  true  name  of  God,  that  he  considers  the  having  of  it  as  an 
especial  privilege  belonging  to  the  worshippers  of  the  true  God 
alone. 

There  are  casual  allusions  also  in  patristic  and  other  writers 
which  show  thac  it  was  a  matter  of  general  knowledge,  and  reck- 
oned among  the  mysteries  of  Biblical  interpretation  in  that  period 
of  the  church. 

The  chief  tendency  to  speculative  theology  in  the  early  church 
was  not  in  the  orthodox  communion,  for  its  interests  were  almost 
wholly  practical,  but  in  certain  of  the  philosophical  outgrowths  of 
Christianity,  especially  among  those  known  as  the  Gnostic  sects. 

A  very  favorite  theme  with  some  of  these  was  the  relation  of  the 
"sacred  word"  to  God,  whom  it  expressed,  and  its  embodiment 


1  Clem,  of  Alex.,  Stromata,  Bk.  V.,  c.  6  ;  Bk.  I.,  c.  23. 

2  Against  Celsus,  Bk.  I.,  c.  24. 


464 


APPENDIX. 


and  manifestation  in  Christ,  whom  they  regarded  as  its  true  and 
living  realization  in  the  sphere  of  actual  creation. 

There  was  an  old  Jewish  canon1  that  the  name  of  the  divine  and 
the  divine  itself  were  one,  "  and  these  sects,  adopting  this  as  a 
fundamental  principle,  transferred  the  ancient  traditions  about 
mn*  (J.  H.  V.  H.)  to  the  name  Jesus,  which  being  in  Greek  Iesus, 
began  with  the  letter  I  —  iota  corresponding  to  the  Heb. '  (yodh)  — 
and  endeavored  in  like  manner  to  express  in  it  all  the  divine 
attributes,  especially  the  relation  of  the  divine  nature  to  creation, 
and  its  manifestation  in  the  coming  of  Jesus  (Iesus)  as  the  living 
'  word  of  God.'  " 

In  the  structure  of  this  as  their  holy  name,  and  its  marvel- 
lous properties,  they,  some  in  one  mode,  some  in  another,  thought 
that  all  these  mysteries  were  contained,  and  could  be  solved. 

One  of  them,  Monoimus,2  asserts  that  the  eternal  universe  pro- 
duced eternally  a  perfect  son,  a  man,  as  fire  produces  li^ht;  and 
the  representation  of  this  son  is  "  the  jot,  the  tittle  "  of  the  letter  * 
(the  yodh  of  the  Hebrew,  and  the  iota  of  the  Greek),  the  first 
letter  of  the  sacred  name,  which  also  comprises  in  itself  all  things 
that  are,  and  from  it  all  the  creation  has  been  unfolded. 

Valentinus8  advocated,  "  as  the  source  of  the  evolution  of  the 
universe,"  a  quaternion  or  fourfold  power,  using  the  precise  expres- 
sion of  Pythagoras  in  describing  his  mysterious  tetractys,  or  four- 
lettered  word,  who  also  says  of  it,  that  it  "  has  the  iota  "  (the  the 
yodh  of  the  Hebrews),  and  "  from  it  comes  all  natural  and  sensible 
things : "  i.  e.,  it  is  the  symbol  of  the  Creator  of  all  the  actual 
universe. 

In  the  system  of  Basilides,  the  universe  of  living  beings  pro- 
ceeded from  the  nameless  eternal.  The  first  of  these  living  powers 
or  existences  is  "  the  Great  Ruler,"  whom  he  calls  Abraxas.  The 
meaning  of  this  word  has  been  much  disputed ;  but  it  certainly 
represents  the  ineffable,  sacred  name,  and  was  engraven  on  stones, 
and  worn  as  a  charm  (see  Fort's  Text,  p.  426).  I  have  no  doubt 
that  it  was  an  equivalent  of  the  Hebrew  holy  name,  both  from  the 
place  which  it  holds  in  his  system,  and  from  the  inscription  Iao, 

1  Cudworth,  Intellectual  System,  Vol.  II.,  p.  18. 
8  Hippolyt,  Bk.  VIII.,  c.  5,  6. 
*  Hippolyt,  Bk.  VI.,  passim. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LOST  WORD. 


465 


the  Greek  form  of  the  name  of  God,  which  was  generally  inscribed 
upon  the  reverse  of  these  abraxas  stones.  And  this  is  also  con- 
firmed in  the  etymology  of  Matter  in  his  work  on  Gnosticism,1 
who  says  that  "abrac"  is  the  Kopt  (Egyptian)  for  "blessed, 
sacred,"  and  "sadsch"  (the  Greek  form  for  which  is  "Sax") 
means  word :  the  compound  thus  signifying  "  blessed  or  sacred 
word."  This  word  "  abrac  "  is  also,  I  think,  the  same  as  that  in 
Gen.  xli.  43,  which  the  Egyptians  cried  before  Joseph  when  he 
rode  in  the  king's  chariot.  This  is  translated  in  our  Bible,  "  Bow 
the  knee ; "  but  in  the  original  it  is  "  abrech,"  which  is  certainly 
very  closely  analogous  to  the  one  under  consideration,  while  the 
meaning  "  blessed  "  is  quite  as  appropriate,  and  has  the  sanction 
of  several  commentators  and  lexicons.  There  can,  I  think,  be  no 
question  that  the  possession  of  "  the  faculty  of  abrac,"  in  the  old 
Masonic  document,  refers  to  this,  and,  as  Fort,  chap,  xxxvi.,  has  more 
fully  shown,  means  an  acquaintance  with  the  mysterious  knowl- 
edge and  powers  belonging  to  the  Divine  name  under  this  form  of 
the  word  "  abraxas,"  while  it  furnishes,  at  the  same  time,  another 
and  very  curious  link  in  the  history  of  the  transmission  of  the 
mysterious,  or  omnific,  or  ineffable,  or  sacred  word,  for  it  is  known 
by  all  these  names,  and  shows  the  union  of  the  double  line  of 
Hebrew  tradition  and  Egyptian  speculation  in  these  new  schools 
of  Christian  Gnostic  theology. 

This  union  once  effected,  the  influence  of  its  old  elements  seemed 
all  to  revive  again.  The  study  of  the  deep  problems  concerning 
the  Divine  "  word  "  and  nature  engaged  the  thoughts,  and  formed 
the  basis  of  almost  innumerable  sects,  all  connected  in  some  way 
with  these  pregnant  old  ideas ;  many  of  them  were  secret  associa- 
tions ;  all  of  them  were  fond  of  expressing,  or  veiling,  their  specu- 
lations in  symbolic  forms. 

These  systems  are  generally  spoken  of  in  bulk  as  "Gnostic 
heresies,"  and  so  dismissed  with  the  usual  contempt  of  ignorance, 
as  thus  properly  disposed  of,  but  which,  in  fact,  are,  many  of  them, 
eminently  worth  the  study  of  every  philosophic  or  theologic  student, 
and  are  as  profound  and  suggestive  in  their  real  thought  as  they 
are  alien  to  all  modern  ways  of  representing  it. 


1  Quoted  in  Mil  man,  History  of  Christianity,  Vol.  II.,  p.  70. 
2E 


466 


APPENDIX. 


One  by  one  the  various  sects  which  made  the  Omnific  Name 
thus  the  centre  of  their  speculations  pass  out  of  notice  as  distinct 
organizations  or  theologic  schools;  not  so,  however,  with  the  im- 
pulse of  that  great  influence  itself. 

We  find  this,  just  before  the  Reformation,  amplified  into  a 
system  more  elaborate  and  complete  than  any,  upon  the  same 
theme,  which  had  before  existed ;  and  now  not  as  a  sect,  but  as  a 
scheme  of  thought,  which  seemed  a  sort  of  common  ground  (so  far 
as  concerned  the  nature  of  God  and  his  relations  to  the  created 
universe)  for  thinkers  from  the  most  different  schools  of  the  then 
prevalent  religions. 

This  is  the  system  known  to  us  as  the  cabala,  and  was  the 
accepted  philosophical  theology  of  many  of  the  most  distinguished 
of  the  Reformers  and  English  Protestants  of  a  much  later  date, 
having  also  advocates  among  the  staunchest  maintainers  of  the 
papal  faith,  and  being  widely  accepted  as  the  current  Biblical 
interpretation  of  the  Jewish  scholars  of  that  period,  as  it  had  been 
for  centuries  before. 

It  is  these  speculations  of  the  cabala,  in  which  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  previous  ages  have  come  down  to  us,  under  the  forms 
in  which  we,  as  Masons,  and  especially  in  the  Chapter  Degrees,  are 
accustomed  to  receive  them. 

The  points  of  identity  are  so  many,  so  various,  and  so  essential 
in  the  very  structure  of  the  order,  that  I  do  not  hesitate  to  infer 
(and,  I  think,  every  competently-instructed  Mason  will  agree  with 
me)  that,  at  some  period  in  their  history  (I  am  not  here  inquiring 
when),  the  association  of  the  great  builders  of  Western  Asia,  and 
which  passed  over,  later,  into  the  Masonic  guilds  of  Latin  and  Teu- 
tonic Europe,  had  made  or  found  the  mystery  of  the  omnific  word 
an  integral  element  of  their  secret  science ;  and  that  this  (which, 
in  one  of  their  old  documents,  is  called  "  The  Faculty  of  Abrac," 
see  Fort's  Text,  chap,  xxxvi.),  under  substantially  the  same  forms  as 
in  the  cabala,  has  been  preserved,  and  still  remains  as  an  essential 
portion  of  the  traditions  and  symbols  of  the  Masonic  order  in  its 
different  degrees. 

The  word  cabala  (or  cabballa,  as  it  is  spelled  in  several  dif- 
ferent ways)  is  indicative  of  the  mode  in  which  its  doctrines  were 
for  many  centuries  conveyed.    It  is  from  the  Hebrew  S^p>  which 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LOST  WORD. 


467 


means  "  received : "  because  received  and  handed  down  from  age 
to  age  by  oral  transmission.1 

The  exoteric  portion  of  their  doctrines  was  committed  to  writing, 
in  several  books,  not  later  than  the  fourteenth  century.  Some  date 
their  earliest  writings  as  far  back  as  the  eighth  century. 

Nearly  all  admit  that  the  substance  of  their  teachings  had  been 
in  existence,  as  an  oral  tradition,  long  centuries  before  the  earliest 
of  these  dates. 

Their  chief  book  was  called  *  Sohar,"  or  "  Light,"  or,  by  an  older 
title,  "  Exposition  —  Let  there  be  Light ;  "  because  its  principal 
theme  was  the  Divine  light,  and  its  expression  in  the  Divine  words 
of  Gen.  i.  3. 

In  their  conception,  the  supreme  origin  of  the  universe  was  being, 
boundless,  nameless,  and  whose  nature  was  infinite  light. 

This  was  expressed  by  the  Hebrew  compound  word  Hor-Ha-En- 
Soph,  meaning,  literally,  "  Ha-Hor,  the  light,"  and  "En-Soph, 
without  limits ; "  or,  as  very  generally  used,  contracted  into  En- 
Soph,  the  infinite,  the  limitless.  And  this  is  the  term  by  which  the 
eternal  origin  of  all  things  is  indicated.  In  passing  out  to  effect 
creation,  this  "  En-Soph  "  first  produces  from  itself  the  simplest  of 
all  things,  which  is  a  point,*  a  dot  (•).  This  is,  in  theology,  the 
same  truth  expressed  geometrically  by  Pythagoras,  who  said,  "  The 
element  of  all  existences  is  a  point ; "  extended  out  in  length,  it 
forms  a  line ;  expanded  in  every  direction,  it  is  a  surface ;  the  line 
curved  round  a  centre  becomes  a  circle ;  and,  hence,  a  point  in  a 
circle  represents  the  elements  of  all  possible  mathematic  or  created 
figures  in  the  universe  and  their  origin. 

This  point  being  regarded  in  the  cabala  as  the  sign  of  the  Divine 
creative  energy  first  passing  into  act,  it  was,  in  their  symbolism, 
most  ger-erally  represented  in  the  form  of  the  first  letter  of 
the  creative  or  omnific  word,  HIIT,  Yodh-He-Vau-He,  and  hence 
was  written  as  (*),  the  letter  Yodh  of  the  Almighty  name.  Thia 
is  the  same  as  our  Y  or  J,  for  it  is  pronounced  either  way,  accord- 
ing to  different  circumstances.  And  it  is  (Fig.  31)  this  that  we 
should  behold  in  the  centre  of  the  glory  in  "  the  East,"  instead  of 
the  now  universal,  but  far  less  significant  letter  (Fig.  32)  which 
occupies  this  high  position  in  "  the  place  of  Light." 

1  Most  of  these  facts  are  derived  from  Ginsberg,  On  the  Cabala,  although 
some  of  the  details  are  from  other  sources. 


468 


APPENDIX. 


In  the  long  ignorance,  which  at  one  time  prevailed  among  the 
Order,  of  the  true  riches  of  its  own  traditions  and  symbolic  figures, 
it  had  lost  the  deep  meaning  which  formerly  attached  to  this 
mystic  letter  (*),  and  which  it  was  intended  always  to  recall 
when  seen  Masonically.  But,  although  the  full  import  of  its 
meaning  was  for  a  time  forgotten,  the  sound,  as  that  of  our  letter 
J,  was  still  preserved  and  handed  down,  and  with  this,  also,  the 
general  knowledge  that  it  referred  to  the  Divine  Name,  so  that  it 
came  to  be,  at  last,  regarded  as  only  an  initial  letter,  and  the 
modern  G  then  very  easily  assumed  its  place. 


But  many  references  in  the  preceding  sketch,  and  especially  to 
the  doctrines  of  the  cabala,  have  shown  that,  whether  as  the  dot 
within  the  circle  (Fig.  33),  or  as  the  Yodh  surmounted  by  the  light 
(Fig.  31),  this  symbol  was  considered,  not  simply  as  a  mathematic 
point,  or  the  commencing  letter  of  an  ordinary  name  of  God,  but 
much  rather  as  representing  a  part  of  the  mysterious  name  mn\ 
hence,  as  signifying  God  himself  as  the  essential  source  and  author 
of  all  being  and  creation.  And  thus,  also,  it  stands  for  the  first 
going  forth  of  the  eternal  light  as  a  creative  power:  the  first 
Divine  act  from  which,  as  their  true  point  and  centre  (Fig.  33), 
all  things  must  flow :  the  omnific  word  in  its  first  utterance,  from 
which  and  by  which  the  universe  in  all  its  parts  was  made. 

In  accordance  with  the  high  importance  thus  attached  to  it,  we 
find  this  first  manifestation  of  the  Divine  called,  among  the  cabal- 
ists,  by  several  most  significant  names ;  some  having  reference  to 
it  as  represented  by  the  dot  (Fig.  33)  ;  others  to  the  more  suggestive 
Yodh  (Fig.  31)  ;  and  others,  again,  to  certain  of  its  essential  attri- 
butes, as  they  understood  them.  Among  these  names  are :  The 
Crown,  the  Ancient,  the  Primordial  Point,  the  I  Am,  the  Divine 
Name,  the  Ineffable,  etc. 

It  is  also  called,  with  reference  both  to  its  nature  and  its  place, 


Fig.  31. 


Fig.  32. 


Fig.  33. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LOST  WORD. 


469 


"the  chief  Sephira,  or  Splendor,"  "sephira"  meaning  light  or 
splendor ;  for  they  regarded  it,  although  having  a  form  yet,  as 
being  in  itself  a  "  light,"  produced  by,  or  emanating  from,  the  in- 
finite, eternal  light;  and  "chief,"  as  being  the  first  of  a  series  of 
sephirse  or  lights  (which  are,  at  the  same  time,  also  high  intelli- 
gences) that  have  successively  proceeded  from  the  source  of  all 
being,  by  and  through  the  creative  power  of  this,  the  "  first  Great 
Light." 

Hence,  the  Divine  "  word,"  —  "  the  word  of  God,"  —  occupied  in 
the  cabala  the  preeminent  position  of  being  the  essential  means 
whereby  the  power  of  the  Divine  was  manifested,  and  a  knowledge 
of  the  Divine  attributes  and  nature  revealed  to  his  created  uni- 
verse ;  and  thus  rightly  was  held  by  them,  whether  regarded  as 
the  spoken  word,  the  living  light  of  light,  or  the  word  of  the  written 
revelation  as  their  "  first  Great  Light,"  God's  most  inestimable  and 
highest  gift  to  man. 

From  this  chief  sephira,  or  light,  there  came  forth,  as  they  ex- 
pressed it,  nine  other  sephirse  —  a  mysterious  three  times  three. 
Each  one  of  these  embodied  one  of  the  attributes  of  the  Divine 
nature,  such  as  wisdom,  beauty,  strength,  etc. ;  and  to  each  of  them 
was  also  given  some  one  of  the  corresponding  names  of  God  in 
Hebrew.    Among  these  were  El,  Shaddai,  Adonah,  Elohim,  etc 

These  emanations  or  lights,  thus  proceeding  from  the  Infinite 
Source  of  Light,  are,  further,  always  represented  as  being  associ- 
ated in  groups  of  three.  Each  of  these  groups  has  one  chief  light, 
or  Divine  attribute,  from  which  the  whole  group  takes  its  name. 
The  first  triad,  or  group  of  three,  consists  of  "  the  first  great  light," 
or  the  ineffable,  —  the  light  of  intellect,  the  light  of  wisdom, —  and 
is  called  Wisdom,  representing  the  intellectual  world  proceeding 
from  and  enlightened  by  the  word  of  God. 

The  second  group  is  composed  of  justice,  mercy,  and  beauty,  ex- 
pressive of  God's  moral  nature,  and  is  called  Beauty. 

The  third  contains  firmness,  glory,  and  foundation,  or  establish- 
ment, signifying  the  material  world,  and  that  by  Strength  it 
should  be  established. 

From  the  ninth  of  these  sephirse,  foundation,  proceeds  another, 
being  the  tenth,  called  the  kingdom,  or  the  shekinah,  and  having 
the  Hebrew  name  Adonah,  as  the  name  of  God,  attached  to  it ;  this, 
40 


470 


APPENDIX. 


probably,  signifying  that  the  Divine  kingdom  on  earth  was  the 
result  and  final  outcome,  in  this  world,  of  all  the  various  attributes 
and  manifestations  of  God. 

In  order  to  convey  or  to  preserve  their  notions  of  the  relations 
of  these  various  lights  to  one  another,  and  to  their  Infinite  Source, 
the  cabalists  were  accustomed  to  represent  them  in  numerous  sym- 
bolic diagrams  or  figures. 

Sometimes  these  are  arranged  in  triangles,  and  each  triangle  is 
composed  of  three  lighted  candles  or  lamps.  These  lights  were  called 
by  the  name  of  the  sephira,  or  attribute,  whose  place  they  occupied ; 


EN  SOPH 
THE  I  N  E  FF ABLE 


KINGDOM 


Fig.  34. 

and  the  whole  was  framed  into  a  sort  of  rude  shape  of  the  human 
figure,  while  each  triad  was  designated,  as  we  have  seen,  by  the 
name  of  the  Divine  attribute  which  it  was  intended  most  promi- 
nently to  express,  these  being  Wisdom,  Beauty,  and  Strength,  for 
their  respective  triangles. 

There  is  another  form  in  which  they  are  arranged,  which,  though 
preserving  the  same  rough  semblance  to  the  form  of  man,  disposes 
the  names  of  the  sephirse,  three  on  one  side,  three  on  the  other, 
and  four  down  the  middle.  When  arranged  in  this  mode,  they  are 
called  the  three  pillars,  or  columns,  of  the  universe. 

These  are  sometimes  called,  from  one  of  the  chief  attributes  in 
each  line,  the  pillar  of  mercy,  the  pillar  of  judgment,  and  the 
middle  pillar ;  but  they  may  be  named,  and  for  the  same  reason, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LOST  WORD. 


471 


the  columns  of  Wisdom,  Strength,  and  Beauty,  as  in  the  arrange- 
ment by  triangles.  And  these  are  especially  fitting  to  be  selected 
as  the  attributes  of  God,  viewed  in  the  aspect  of  Creator,  for  it  was 


Fig.  35. 


472 


APPENDIX. 


through  the  exercise  of  these,  preeminently,  that  God  —  called  by 
one  of  the  fathers  the  Geometrician  of  the  universe,  and  the  De- 
lineator of  the  heavenly  temple  —  created,  and  must  continually 
support,  the  temple  of  universe,  which  He  not  only  forms,  but  in 
which  He  also  dwells,  as  its  eternal,  all-pervading,  ever-present  spirit. 

Thus,  therefore,  in  forms  and  under  symbols  strange  to  our 
modern  thought,  and  yet  most  true  and  most  suggestive,  the 
"  Divine  word  "  is  presented  to  us  as  "  the  great  Architect  of  the 
universe,"  and,  at  the  same  time,  as  its  source,  light,  and  support — 
its  wisdom,  strength,  and  beauty,  —  lost  as  a  "word"  for  men  to 
speak,  but  immortal  as  the  manifested  power,  nature,  and  truth 
of  the  unfathomable  yet  ever-living  and  true  God. 

Nor  are  these  the  only  modes  in  which  they  were  accustomed  to 
convey  the  same  great  conceptions ;  or,  rather,  they  combined  the 
essential  elements  which  have  been  now  explained,  in  a  great  variety 
of  ways,  according  to  the  use  they  wished  to  make  of  them. 


Fig.  36.  Fig.  37.  Fig.  38. 


Among  these  was  the  simple  figure  of  the  triangle  (Fig.  36),  or 
the  triangle  in  a  circle  (Fig  37).  Sometimes  these  were  surrounded 
with  a  circlet  of  rays  of  light  shooting  out  in  every  direction  all 


Fig.  39.  Fig.  40. 

around.  Very  often  the  triangle  contained  the  letter  yodh  (Fig.  38) ; 
occasionally  the  whole  Divine  name,  of  which  this  was  the  signifi- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LOST  WORD. 


473 


cant  initial  (Fig.  39)  ;  and,  in  another  variety,  the  circle  of  light  is 
removed  to  some  distance  from  the  mystic  centre.  Whether  this  be 
the  single  yodh  or  the  inscribed  triangle,  thus  forming  a  more  sug- 
gestive point  and  circle  (Fig.  40)  than  the  base  geometric  figure 
usually  seen,  their  significance  is  identical. 

All  these,  and  many  others  that  might  be  given,  are  only  dif- 
ferent forms  of  the  one  old  conception  which  we  have  been  tracing 
down,  as  the  mystery  of  the  omnific  word,  through  the  long  track 
of  more  than  forty  centuries,  and  which  we  have  found  everywhere, 
throughout  all  that  long  stretch  of  ages,  employing  essentially  the 
same  symbolism,  setting  forth  essentially  the  same  truths,  and 
always  possessing  an  especial  charm  for  those  who  have  been  occu- 
pied with  the  study  of  its  meaning,  or  given  themselves  to  medi- 
tation on  the  high  themes  which  it  suggests. 

I  know  no  other  thought  in  human  history  which  has  had  such 
intense  vitality  ;  none  which  can  claim  so  continuous  and  unbro- 
ken a  succession  of  organic  life.  It  forms  the  living  centre  of  the 
mightiest  social  organization  of  Christendom,  except  the  Christian 
church  itself;  and  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt,  after  the  outline 
given  in  the  preceding  pages,  at  least  to  any  thoughtful  Mason, 
that  the  keynote  to  much  of  our  symbolism,  and  the  true  spirit  of 
it  all,  are  to  be  found  in  the  traditions  and  meditations  of  the  old 
searchers  after  "  the  lost  word." 

I  am  sure  that  the  more  thoroughly  any  one  enters  into  the 
true  import  of  their  doctrines,  even  as  imperfectly  portrayed  in 
the  bare  sketch  to  which  I  have  confined  myself,  the  more  he  will 
be  able  to  comprehend  the  real  truth  and  meaning  of  the  work, 
the  symbols,  the  ritual,  and  the  teachings  of  Freemasonry. 

I  have  thus  traced,  as  fully  as  our  space  allowed,  the  history  of 
the  lost  name,  and  the  line  of  its  traditions,  from  the  remotest  ages 
to  the  Reformation,  where  its  history  as  a  living  thought  becomes 
merged  henceforth  in  that  of  the  Masonic  brotherhood. 

It  has  not  been  my  purpose  to  enter  into  any  historical  details 
outside  this  single  line.  All  this  has  been  effected  so  completely 
and  satisfactorily  in  the  body  of  the  text  by  Fort,  that  it  would  be 
presumption  to  attempt  any  elaborate  excursions  into  a  field  which 
he  has  reaped  and  gathered  in  so  thoroughly. 

Nor  have  I  paused  at  every  point  to  indicate  the  connection  of 
40  * 


474 


APPENDIX. 


the  various  facts  presented  with  the  ritual  and  symbols  of  the 
Order.  Most  of  these  are  so  obvious  as  to  need  no  special  mention 
of  the  likeness. 

The  tenets  of  the  Essen es,  and  the  doctrines  of  Pythagoras  and 
the  cabala  are  especially  suggestive. 

Studied,  as  they  all  should  be,  in  their  relations  to  the  Bible 
as  the  written  word  of  God,  and  the  traditions  and  teachings  of  the 
lodge,  they  will,  I  am  sure,  furnish  matter  of  continually  increasing 
interest  and  instruction  to  every  thoughtful  student  of  the  Frater- 
nity who  may  really  desire  more  light. 

I  will  here  only  refer  to  some  of  the  more  distinctive  thoughts 
of  their  fundamental  symbolism  in  reference  to  the  Omnific 
word,  which  they  regarded  as  the  Divine  representation  of  God 
himself. 

This  was,  as  we  have  seen,  the  central  idea  of  all  these  mystic 
systems,  and  all  their  symbols  were  only  different  modes  of  teach- 
ing different  aspects  of  this  vital  principle.  The  underlying  thought 
of  all  these  was,  that  the  true  divine  word  was  God,  in  living 
power  and  presence ;  that  it  came  forth  from  Him  as  light  from 
light,  as  word  and  thought  are  one  ;  that  by  it  He  made  all  things 
that  were  made,  and  when  the  universe  was  formed,  this  was  the 
life  and  light  of  all  that  was  created,  the  source  whence  all  pro- 
ceeded, and  the  strength  by  which  all  was  sustained. 

Hence,  when  the  creation  is  regarded  as  the  result  of  a  Divine 
geometric  mechanism,  this  was  represented  by  a  point  within  a  circle, 
for  from  these  all  forms  and  figures  of  the  universe  must  be  derived. 

When  considered  as  the  outgoing  of  a  Divine  power  or  word, 
and  from  the  Ineffable,  they  had  the  *>  or  the  ("PIT,  with  rays  of  light 
beaming  out  in  every  direction  from  this,  or  from  its  containing 
triangle,  or  from  their  source  and  sun. 

This  also  indicated  that  the  word  of  God,  whether  the  written 
and  revealed  word — the  Holy  Bible  —  or  the  word  as  the  living 
manifestation  of  the  nature  and  power  of  the  Deity, —  that  this 
word  is  the  "  first  Great  Light "  of  the  universe,  itself,  at  the  same 
time,  containing  and  sending  forth  light  to  all  creation. 

The  triangle  around  the  holy  word  conveyed  also  a  significant 
representation  of  the  Divine  existing  in  a  triune  mode,  as  myste- 
rious and  unfathomable  as  the  mystic  name  which  was  included  by 


HISTORY  OF  THE  LOST  WORD. 


475 


its  lines,  and  whose  oninific  power  beamed  out  of  the  rays  which 
shot  forth  in  a  dazzling  circle  all  around ;  while  the  three  burning 
tapers  standing  at  the  corners  each  signified  some  one  of  the 
modes  in  which  God  enlightens  his  moral  or  material  universe  — 
all  standing  round  His  holy  word,  giving  light  to  and  receiving 
light  from  it. 

In  the  mystic  three  times  three  triangles,  in  which  the  sephirse 
are  grouped,  or  the  corresponding  three  columns,  with  each  their 
three  sephirse,  of  which  the  cabalistic  man  was  formed,  they 
showed  that  Wisdom,  Beauty,  and  Strength  were  the  divine  at- 
tributes by  which  the  universe  (God's  all-embracing  temple)  was 
first  established,  and  the  divine  supports  on  which,  as  on  unbend- 
ing columns,  so  long  as  it  endureth,  it  must  stand. 

I  have  not  space,  nor  if  I  had  would  it  be  necessary,  to  follow 
out  into  detail  the  various  points  of  interest  which  these  old  sym- 
bols, and  especially  in  their  relation  to  the  lost  word,  may  open  up 
to  the  Masonic  student.  Those  I  have  hinted  at  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  make  the  others  readily  apparent  to  any  one  who  really 
desires  to  trace  them  out.  The  history  is,  in  itself,  one  of  the  most 
curious  chapters  in  the  records  of  human  thought. 

Whenever  or  however  they  may  have  become  associated  with  the 
constitution  of  the  societies  of  ancient  builders,  we  have  become 
the  sole  inheritors  in  modern  times  of  all  that  now  survives  of 
these  marvellous  old  traditions,  and  the  symbols  into  which  they 
had  been  so  elaborately  and  thoughtfully  wrought. 

In  addition,  I  am  certain  that  any  attempt  to  understand  the 
principles  of  "  Speculative  Masonry,"  without  some  knowledge  of 
the  history  of  the  doctrines  which  have  been  connected  with  the 
sacred  name,  will  simply  be  waste  effort,  as  the  one  rests  on  and 
is  at  every  point  interwoven  with  the  other. 

While,  however,  indispensable  to  the  understanding  of  the  real 
teachings  of  the  Masonic  order,  yet  the  study  of  the  lost  word 
should  not  be  confined  to  them  alone,  for  it  is  also  a  most  wonderful 
and  suggestive  theme  for  the  investigation  of  any  one  who  seeks  to 
know  the  records  of  the  past,  or  comprehend  anything  of  the  spirit 
of  some  of  the  most  keen  and  subtle  thinkers  of  the  buried  ages. 
At  the  same  time,  it  is  so  closely  connected  in  many  points 
with  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  both  in  their  interpretation  and  their 


476 


APPENDIX. 


theology,  that  although  little  known,  it  is  a  most  important  subject 
to  the  Bible  student,  and  one  that  will  shed  new  light  on  much 
whose  meaning  can  be  only  partially  attained  without  such  knowl- 
edge as  its  study  can  afford. 

There  is  thus  an  intrinsic  value  and  interest  in  these  ancient 
speculations  about  the  sacred  name,  and  I  can,  with  confidence, 
commend  the  history  of  the  lost  word,  its  substitute,  and  its  sym- 
bols, as  a  matter  of  real  interest  and  importance,  not  only  to  the 
Masonic  brotherhood,  but  also  to  the  historian,  the  antiquary,  the 
philosopher,  and  the  theologian. 


EDICTUM  LIUTPRANDIS  REGIS, 

ANNO  729.1 

Item  Memoratorio  de  Mercedes  Comacinorum,  oc.  CL.,  VIII.,  IX.,  XI.  (Ex 
Monuinentis  Historiae  Patriae,  p.  151  et  seq.) 

C.  II.    De  Muruo. 

I  vero  murum  fecerit  qui  usque  ad  pedera  unum  sit  gros- 
sus,  dupplicenter  mercedes,  et  usque  ad  quinque  pedes, 
subquinetur ;  et  de  ipso  muro  vadat  per  solidum  uuum 
pedes  ducenti  viginti  quinque :  si  vero  macinam  mutave- 
rit,  det  pedes  centum  octoginta  in  solidum  unum,  usque  ad  pedes 
quinque  sursum,  in  longitudinem  vero  ter  quinos  per  tremisse.  Si- 
militer et  si  murum  dealbaverit,  sexcenti  pedes  vadat  per  solidum 
unum. 

Et  si  cum  axes  clauserit  et  opera  gallica  fecerit,  mille  quingenti 
pedes  in  solido  vestito  vadant.  Et  si  arcum  volserit,  pedes  duo- 
decim  vadat  in  solido  uno. 

Si  vero  materias  capelaverit  majores  minores,  capita  viginti  per 
tremisse ;  armaturas  vero  et  brachiolas  quinque  ponantur  pro  uno 
materio. 

C.  III.    De  Annonam  Comacinorum. 

Tollat  magistri  annonam  per  tremisse  uno  segale  modia  tria, 
lardo  libras  decern,  vino  urna  una,  legumen  sextaria  quattor,  sale 
sextario  uno,  et  in  mercedes  suas  repotet. 


Merkel,  Die  Geschichte  des  Longobordenrechts,  p.  18. 

477 


478 


APPENDIX. 


C.  V.    De  Caminata. 

Si  magistros  caminatam  fecerit,  tollat  per  una  tremisse  uno.  Et 
si  abietarii  caucellas  fecerit,  per  solidos  uno  vadat  pedes  duodecim. 
Si  vero  peuma  fecerit,  quantos  pedes  habent  tantas  siliquas  lebant. 
Et  si  carolas  fecerit  cum  gisso,  det  per  tremisse  carolas  quattor : 
annonas  ei  non  repotetur. 


c. 


REGLEMENTS  SUR  LES  ARTS  ET  METIERS 
DE  PARIS. 

REDIGES  AU  XIII«  SIECLE, 
Par  Etienne  Boileau. 

Des  Macons,  des  Tailleurs  de  pierre,  des  Plastriers  et 
des  morteliers. 

L  puet  macon  a  Paris  qui  veiit,  pour  tant  que  il  sache 
le  mestriere,  et  qu'il  oevre  as  us  et  aus  coustumes  un  mes- 
tier  qui  tel  sunt : 
Nus  ne  puet  avoir  en  leur  mestier  que  j  apprentis,  et  se 
il  a  apprentis,  il  ne  puet  prendre  a  mains  de  vj  ans  de  service ;  mes 
a  plus  de  service  le  puetril  bien  prendre  et  a  argent,  se  avoir  le  puet, 
Et  se  il  le  prenoit  a  mains  de  vj  ans,  il  est  a  xxs  de  par  d'amende,  a 
paier  a  la  chapele  monseign  —  Saint  Blesve,  se  ce  n'  estoient  ses  filz 
tant  seulement  nez  de  loial  mariage. 

Li  Macon  puent  bien  prendre  j  autre  apprentiz  si  tost  come  li 
autre  aura  acompli  v  ans,  a  quelque  terme  que  il  enst  le  premier 
aprentis  prins. 

Li  Rois  qui  ore  est,  cui  Deux  donist  bone  vie,  a  done  la  mestrise 
des  macons  a,  mestre  Guill  de  Saint-Pater  Sant  come  il  li  plaira. 
Lequel  mestre  Guille,  jura  a  Paris  es  loges  du  Pales  pardevant 
dis  que  il  le  mestier  desus  dit  garderoit  bien  et  loiaument  a  son 
povir  ausi  pour  le  poure  come  pour  le  riche,  et  pour  le  foible  come 
pour  le  fort,  tant  come  il  plairoit  au  Roy  que  il  gardast  le  mestier 

479 


480 


APPENDIX. 


devant  dit,  et  puis  celui  raestre  Guille  fist  la  forme  du  serement 
devant  dit  pardevant  le  prevost  de  Paris  en  Chastelet. 

Li  mortilier  et  li  plastrier  sont  de  la  miesme  condicion  et  du 
miesme  establisements  des  macons  en  toutes  choses. 

Li  mestres  qui  garde  le  raestrier  des  macons,  des  morteliers  et 
des  plastriers  de  Paris  de  par  le  Roy,  puet  avoir  ij  aprentis  tant 
seulement  en  la  mauriere  desus  dit,  et  se  il  en  avoit  plus  des  appren- 
tis,  il  amenderoit  en  la  maniere  desus  devisee. 

Les  macons,  les  morteliers  et  les  plastriers  puet  avoir  tant  aides 
et  vallis  a  leur  mestrier  come  il  leur  plaist,  pour  tant  que  il  ne  mo- 
nestrent  a  nul  de  ens  nul  point  de  leur  mestrier. 

Tuit  li  inacon,tuit  le  mortelier,  tuit  li  plastrier  doivent  jurer  seur 
sains  que  il  le  mestier  devant  dit  garderont  et  feront  bien  et  loiau- 
ment,  chascun  endroit  soi,  et  que  se  il  scevent  que  nul  il  mespreng- 
ne  en  aucune  chose,  quil  ne  face  selonc  les  us  et  les  coustumes  del 
mester  devant  dit,  que  il  le  feront  a  savoir  au  mestre  toutes  les  fois 
que  il  le  sauront,  et  par  leur  serement. 

Li  mestres  a  cui  li  apprentis  ait  fet  et  par  accompli  son  terme, 
doit  venir  pardevant  le  mestre  du  mestrier,  et  tesmoigner  que  son 
apprentis  a  fait  son  terme  bien  et  loiaument ;  et  lois  li  mestres  qui 
garde  le  mestier  doit  fere  jurer  a  l'aprentis  seur  sains  que  il  se  con- 
tendra  aus  us  et  as  coustumes  du  mestier  bien  et  leaument. 

Nus  ne  puet  ouvrer  el  mestier  devant  diz,  puis  none  sonee  a  Nostre- 
Dame  en  charnage  et  en  quaresme  au  semedi,  puis  que  vespres  soi- 
ent  chanties  a  Nostre-Dame,  se  ce  nest  a  une  arche  on  a  un  degre 
fermer,  on  a  une  huisserie  faire  fermant  assise  seur  rue.  Et  se 
auncun  ouvroit  puis  les  eures  devant  dites,  fors  es  ceuvraignes  desus 
devises  on  a  besoing,  il  paieroit  iiij  den.  d'amende  au  mestre  qui 
garde  le  mestier,  et  en  puet  prendre  li  mestre  les  ostieuz  at  cetui 
qui  seroit  reprins  par  l'amende. 

Li  mortelier  et  li  plastrier  sont  en  la  juridicion  au  mestre  qui 
garde  le  mestrier  devant  dit  de  par  le  Roy. 

Se  nus  plastiers  envoioit  piastre  pour  metre  en  oevre  chies 
aucun  hom,  li  macon  qui  oevre  a  celui  a  cui  en  envoit  le  piastre  doit 
prendre  garde  par  son  serement  que  la  mesure  del  piastre  soit  bone 
et  loiax ;  et  se  il  en  est  en  soupecon  de  la  mesure,  il  doit  le  piastre 
mesurer  ou  faire  mesurer  devant  lui.  Et  se  il  treuve  que  la  mesure 
ne.soit  bone,  li  plastrier  en  paiera  vs,  d'amende;  c'est  a  savoir  a  la 


LES  ARTS  AND  METIERS  DE  PARIS.  481 


chapele  Saint-Bleive  devant  dite  ijs.,  au  mestre  que  garde  le  mestre 
ijs.,  et  a  celui  qui  le  piastre  aura  mesure  xj  deu.  Et  cil  a  qui  le 
piastre  aura  este  livre,  rabastera  de  chascune  asnee  que  il  aura  eue 
en  cela  ouvrage  autant  come  on  aura  trouve  en  cele  qui'il  aura  este 
mesuree  de  rechief;  mes  j  sac  tant  seulement  ne  puet  on  pas 
mesurer. 

Nus  ne  puet  estre  plastrier  a  Paris  se  il  ne  paie  vs,  de  Paris,  au 
mestre  qui  garde  le  mestier  de  par  le  Roy ;  et  quant  il  a  paie  les 
vs.,  il  doit  jurer  sur  sains  que  il  ne  metra  rien  avec  le  piastre  fors 
du  piastre,  et  que  il  levirra  bone  mesure  et  loial. 

Se  li  plastrier  met  avec  son  piastre  autre  chase  que  il  ne  doive,  il 
est  a  vs.,  d'amende,  a  paier  au  mestre,  toutes  les  fois  qui'l  en  est 
reprins.  Et  se  li  plastrier  en  est  coustumiers,  ne  ne  s'en  voille 
amender  ne  chastoier,  li  mestres  li  puet  deffendre  le  mestier  :  et  se  li 
plastier  ne  veut  lessier  le  mestrier  pour  le  mestre,  le  mestre  le  doit 
faire  savoir  au  prevost  de  Paris,  et  li  prevoz  doit  celui  plastrier  faire 
forjurer  le  mestier  devant  dit. 

Li  mortelier  doivent  jurer  devant  le  mestre  du  mestier,  et  par 
devant  autres  prudeshomes  du  mestier,  qu'il  ne  feront  nul  mortier 
fors  que  de  bon  liois  et  se  il  le  feit  d'autre  pierre,  ou  li  mortiers  est 
de  liois  et  est  perciez  au  foire,  il  doit  estre  despeciez,  et  le  doit 
amender  au  mestre  du  mestier  de  iiij  den. 

Li  mortelier  ne  pueuent  prendre  leur  apprentis  a  mains  de  vj 
ans  de  service  et  cent.  s.  de  Paris  pour  euz  aprendre. 

Le  mestre  du  mestier  a  la  petite  joustice  e  les  amendes  des  macons, 
des  plastriers  et  des  morteliers,  et  de  leur  aydes  et  de  leur  aprentis, 
tant  come  il  pleura  au  Roy,  si  come  des  entrepresures  de  leurs  mes- 
triers,  et  de  bateurs  sanz  sane  et  de  clameur  de  propriete. 

Se  ancun  des  mestiers  devant  diz  est  adjournes  devant  le  mestre 
qui  garde  le  mestier,  se  il  est  defaillans,  il  est  a  iiij  den,  d'amende 
a  paier  au  mestre  ;  et  se  il  vient  a  son  jour,  et  il  cognoit,  il  doit 
gagier  ;  et  se  il  ne  paie  dedenz  les  nuiz,  il  est  a  iiij  den  d'amende  a 
paier  au  mestre  ;  et  se  il  nie,  et  il  a  tort,  il  est  a  iiij  den,  a  paier  au 
mestre. 

Le  mestre  qui  garde  le  mestier  ne  puet  lever  que  une  amende  de 
une  querele ;  et  se  cil  qui  d'amende  a  fait  est  si  eroides  et  si  foz 
que  il  ne  voille  obeir  au  commendement  (sic)  le  mestre,  ou  s'amende 
paier,  le  mestre  li  puet  deffendre  le  mestier. 
41  2F 


482 


APPENDIX. 


Se  aucun  du  mestier  devant  dita,  cui  le  mestier  soit  deffendeez  de 
par  le  mestre,  ovre  puis  ladeffense  le  mestre,  le  mestre  li  puet  oster 
ses  ostiz,  et  tenier  —  les  tant  que  il  soit  paie  de  s'amende ;  et  se  cil  li 
voloit  efforcier,  le  mestre  le  devoit  faire  savoir  au  prevost  de  Paris, 
et  le  prevost  de  Paris  li  devroit  abatre  la  force. 

Les  macons  et  les  plastriers  doivent  le  gueit  et  la  taille  et  les 
autres  redevances  que  li  autre  bourgois  de  Paris  doivent  au  Roy. 

Li  raortelliers  sont  quite  du  gueit,  et  tout  taileur  de  pierre,  tres  la 
tans  Charles  Martel,  si  come  li  preudome  Ten  o'i  dire  de  pere  a  fils. 

Le  mestre  qui  garde  le  mestier  de  par  lou  Roy  est  quite  du 
gueit  pour  le  service  que  il  li  feit  de  garder  sou  mestier. 

Cil  qui  out  lx  ans  passe,  ne  cil  a  qui  sa  fame  gist,  tant  come  ele 
ge,  ne  doivent  point  de  gueit ;  mes  il  le  doivent  faire  savoir  a  celi 
qui  le  gueit  garde  de  par  le  Roi. 


THE  MANUSCRIPT  OF  HENRY  VI. 

ERTAYNE   Questyons,  wyth  Awnswers  to  the  same, 
concernynge  the  Mystery  of  Maconrye ;  WrytteDne  by  the 
Hande  of  Kinge  Henrye,  the  Sixthe  of  the  Name,  and 
faythfullye  copyed  by  me,  Johari  Leylande,  Antiqua- 
rius,  by  the  Commaunde  of  his  Highnesse. 
They  be  as  folio wethe  : 
Q.  What  mote  ytt  be  ? 

A.  Ytt  beeth  the  skylle  of  nature,  the  understondynge  of  the 
myghte  that  ys  hereynne,  and  its  sondrye  werckynges  ;  sonderlyche, 
the  skylle  of  rectenyngs,  of  waightes,  and  metynges,  and  the  treu 
manere  of  faconnyuge  all  thynges  for  manne's  use,  headlye,  dwell- 
ynges,  and  buyldynges  of  alle  kindes,  and  alle  odher  thynges  that 
make  gudde  to  manne. 

Q.  Where  dyd  ytt  begynne  ? 

A.  Ytt  dyd  begynne  with  the  ffyrste  menne  yn  the  este, 
which  were  before  the  ffyrste  manne  of  the  weste,  and  comynge 
westlye,  ytt  hathe  brought  herwythe  alle  comfortes  to  the  wylde 
and  comfortlesse. 

Q.  Who  did  brynge  ytt  westlye  ? 

A.  The  Venetians,  whoo,  beynge  grate  merchaundes,  corned 
ffyrste  ffromme  the  este  ynn  Venetia,  ffor  the  commodytye  of  mar- 
chaundysynge  beithe  easte  and  weste,  by  the  Redde  and  Myddle- 
londe  sees. 

Q.  Howe  commede  ytt  yn  Engelonde  ? 

A.  Peter  Gower,  a  Grecian,  journeyedde  ffor  kunnynge  yn 

483 


484 


APPENDIX. 


Egypte,  and  yn  Syria,  and  yn  everyche  land  whereas  the  Venetians 
hadde  plauntedde  Maconrye,  and  wynnage  entraunce  yn  al  lodges 
of  Maconnes,  he  lerned  muche,  and  retournedde  and  woned  yn 
Greeia  Magna  wachsynge,  and  becommynge  a  myghtye  wyseacre, 
and  gratelyche  renowned,  and  her  he  framed  a  grate  lodge  at 
Groton  and  raaked  manye  Maconnes,  some  whereoffe  dyd  journeye 
yn  Fraunce,  and  maked  manye  Maconnes,  wherefromme,  yn  pro- 
cesse  of  tyme,  the  arte  passed  yn  Englelonde. 

Q.  Do  the  Maconnes  descouer  here  artes  unto  odhers  ? 

A.  Peter  Gower,  whenne  he  journeyedde  to  lernne,  was  ffyrste 
made,  and  anonne  techedde ;  evenne  so  shulde  all  odhers  beyn 
recht.  Natheless  Maconnes  hauethe  alweys  yn  everyche  tyme 
from  tyme  to  tyme  communicatedde  to  mankynde  soche  of  her  se- 
crettes  as  generallyche  myghte  be  usefulle ;  they  haueth  keped 
backe  soche  allein  as  shulde  be  harmfulle  yff  they  commed  yn  euylle 
hanndes,  oder  soche  as  ne  myghte  be  holpynge  wythouten  the 
techynges  to  be  joynedde  herwythe  in  the  lodge,  oder  soche  as"  do 
bynde  the  freres  more  stronglyche  together,  bey  the  proffyte,  and 
commodytye  commynge  to  the  confrerie  herfromme. 

Q.  Whatte  artes  haueth  the  Maconnes  techedde  mankynde? 

A.  The  arts  agricultura,  architectura,  astronomia,  geometria, 
nu meres,  musica,  poesie,  kymistrye,  governmente,  and  relygyonne. 

Q.  Howe  commethe  Maconnes  more  teachers  than  odher  menne  ? 

A.  The  hemselfe  haueth  allein  in  arte  of  fyndynge  neue  artes, 
whyche  arte  the  ffyrste  Maconnes  receaued  from  Godde ;  by  the 
whyche  they  fyndethe  whatte  artes  hem  plesethe,  and  the  treu 
way  of  techynge  the  same.  Whatte  odher  menne  doethe  ffynde 
out,  ys  onelyche  bey  chaunce,  and  herefore  but  lytel  I  tro. 

Q.  Whatte  dothe  the  Maconnes  concele  and  hyde? 

A.  They  concelethe  the  art  of  ffyndynge  neue  artes  and  thatt 
ys  for  here  own  proffyte,  and  preise ;  they  concelethe  the  art 
of  kepynge  secrettes,  thatt  soe  the  worlde  mayeth  nothinge  con- 
cele from  them.  They  concelethe  the  art  of  wunderwerckynge, 
and  of  fore  sayinge  thynges  to  comme,  that  so  thay  same  artes 
may  not  be  usedde  of  the  wyckedde  to  an  euylle  end ;  they  also 
concele  the  arte  of  chaunges,  the  wey  of  wynnynge  the  fac- 
ultye  of  Abrac,  the  skylle  of  becommynge  gude  and  parfyghte 
wythouten  the  holpynges  of  fere  and  hope ;  and  the  universelle 
longage  of  Maconnes. 


THE  MANUSCRIPT  OF  HENRY  VI 


485 


Q.  Wylle  he  teche  me  thay  same  artes  ? 

A.  Ye  shalle  be  techedde  yff  ye  be  werthye,  and  able  to  lerne. 

Q.  Dothe  alle  Maconnes  kunne  more  then  odher  menne  ? 

A.  Not  so.  Thay  onlyche  haueth  recht,  and  occasyonne  more 
then  odher  menne  to  kunne,  butt  many  doeth  fale  yn  capacity,  and 
manye  more  doth  want  industrye,  thatt  ys  pernecessarye  for  the 
gaynynge  all  kunnynge. 

Q.  Are  Maconnes  gudder  menne  then  odhers? 

A.  Some  Maconnes  are  not  so  vertuous  as  some  odher  menne ; 
but,  yn  the  moste  parte,  they  be  more  gude  then  thay  would  be  yf 
thay  war  not  Maconnes. 

Q.  Doth  Maconnes  love  eidher  odher  myghty  lyas  beeth  sayde? 

A.  Yea  verylyche,  and  yt  may  not  odherwise  be;  for  gude 
menne,  and  true,  kennynge  eidher  odher  to  be  soche,  doeth  always 
love  the  more  as  thay  be  more  gude. 

Here  endethe  the  questyonnes  and  awnsweres. 
41* 


ORDNUNG  DER  STEINMETZEN  VOM 
JAHRE  1462. 

Von  den  Ersamen  meistern,  der  Steinmetzen  auff  Irem  Hantwerk,  pallirer, 
vnnd  von  den  gesellen  auff  dem  Hantwerk.  Alle  Artigkel  vnnd  gesetz,  als 
in  dem  Buch  geschriben  stehet,  wie  sichi  ein  Itzlicher,  in  seinem  Standt 
vnd  wesen  halten  soil  auf  dem  Hantwerck,  Allhie  zu  Zwikau  oder  ander- 
swoe  in  andern  landen  als  in  dem  Buclie  hernach  geschriben  stehet  alle 
Artigkel  eigentlicher. 


NN  dem  Nam  en  dess  Vatters,  dess  Sohns,  dess  heiligen 
Geistes. 

Inn  dem  Namen  dess  Vatters,  dess  Sohns,  dess  heiligen 
Geists,  In  dem  Namen  der  Gebenedeyeten  Junckfraw 


Maria,  vnnd  inn  der  Ehre  der  viere  gekronten  Merterin,  Wir 
werckmeister  der  Steinmetzen  thun  kundt.  Allenn  Fiirsten 
vnnd  Herrn,  Stethen,  Burgeren,  vnnd  auch  Bauern  in  welchem 
stande  er  ist,  Er  sey  geistlich  oder  weltlich,  das  die  Etliche 
Werkmeister  inn  dem  Oberland  hab,  one  zu  Regenspurgk  vnnd 
zu  Strasburgk  zwene  Tage  gehabt,  vnnd  sie  haben  angesehen 
solichenn  grossen  Schaden  vnd  Vnordnunge  der  werke  vnd 
verseumnisse,  ist  geschehen  in  alien  landen  von  den  werk- 
meistern,  palliren  vnd  gesellen,  desz  haben  sie  one  muh  ein  Buch 
der  Ordnung  vnnd  Regirung  inn  dis  Landt  gesandt  vnd  vns  dariu- 
nen  vermanen,  Auf  die  heilige  eide,  die  wir  Steinwerck  gethan 
haben,  soliche  ordnunge  auffzunemen  vnd  zu  bestettigen,  Inn  die- 
sem  Lande  nach  gewonheit,  als  disz  Buch  Clerlich  auszweist,  das 
haben  Wir  Werkmeister  inn  alien  diesen  Landen  zu  Meydeburgk 

486 


ORDNUNG  DER  S TEINMETZEN  VOM  JAHRE  1402.  487 


vnd  Halberstat  Hildesztieim  vnnd  Mullburgk,  Merseburgk,  vnnd 
zu  Meihssen,  Voitlandt,  Duringen,  Hartzlandt,  vnd  das  meyste 
Theel  beyeinander  gewest,  odder  die  Pallirer  von  vnsern  wegen 
gantz  macht  hatten  vnnd  auff  zweye  tagen  gewest  zu  Torgau  auff 
Bartholomey  vnd  auff  Michahely,  als  man  schreybet,  Nach  Christi 
vnsers  lieben  Herrn  geburth  Tausent  Vierhundert  vnnd  in  dem 
zwey  vnnd  sechzigisten  Jare  Haben  wir  die  ordnunge  dess  Buchs 
vnnd  Inhaldunge  dess  Lauts  bestetiget  vnd  seinde  dess  gantz  eins 
worden,  vnd  darzu  zu  den  Heiligen  geschworen. 

Soliche  Artigkel  zu  halden  in  alien  landen,  weyt  vnnd  breyt,  sie 
seindt  geistlich  odder  weltlich  vnd  haben  das  zu  Richter  vnnd 
Vbermeister  gesetzt,  ein  solches  zu  Regiren  vnnd  zu  halden 
Inwirden  nach  der  lande  gewonheit  vnd  noth,  vnd  seindt  achte 
uber  alles  die  dis  Steinwerk  vnnd  gebeude  antrifft  vnd  nicht  der 
lande  vnnd  der  Stetten,  antrifft  vnd  gerichts  Busse  es  were  den 
Sache  das  do  Steinwerk  antrifft,  Noch  soli  man  es  mit  laube  thun 
der  Herren,  die  do  sindt  Erben  zu  dem  lande  vnd  zu  den  rechten 
helffen.  Darumb  haben  wir  etzliche  Artigkel  auff  das  Beste 
ausgezogen  aus  dem  Buche,  Das  Buch  sol  In  wiirden  bleyben  an 
solichen  stetten,  Das  wir  alle  Jar  hinlegen  werden,  do  wir  denn 
alle  Jar  was  gebrochens  in  den  landen,  an  den  Bauenmeistern 
vnnd  gesellen,  ist  das  man  sol  rechtfertigen  vnd  hinlegen,  Auch 
ob  die  Herrn  der  Stette,  sie  sindt  geistlich  odder  weltlich,  an  Iren 
Beuden  hetten,  die  fugen  sich  zu  den  Werkleutten,  die  zu  ober- 
meister  gesatzt  sindt,  schreyben  odder  entbieten  vnd  horen  ge  der  « 
Gebrauch  der  gebeude,  Do  sollen  die  obermeister,  die  da  zugehoren 
vnd  geschworen  haben  vnd  gesetzt  hinverpoten  auff  den  Dag  Jars, 
wen  es  were,  vnd  sie  verhoren,  was  der  gebrauch  ist,  von  des  ge- 
beudes  wegen,  das  er  den  Herren  schaden  hat  gethan,  den  schaden 
wider  zu  legen  nach  erkentnisse  der  Meystern,  So  kompt  er  nicht 
vnd  veranthwortet  sich  nicht,  so  sol  man  In  verwerfen,  vnd  alle 
ordnunge  legen  mit  den  gesellen,  vnnd  sol  In  niemandt  fur  gutt 
haben  noch  halten,  oder  gut  sein. 

Auch  haben  wir  vorgenannte  meister,  pallirer  vnd  gesellen  aus 
dem  buche  gezogen  vnd  genomen  Etzliche  Stiicke,  die  da  not  sein 
Allen  obern  Werckmeistern  vnd  gesellen  auf  das  kiirtzte,  das  das 
rechte  Buch  sol  In  ein  bleyben  vnd  nicht  gelesen  werden  den  dess 
Jars,  wen  wir  eine  Beruffunge  haben. 


488 


APPENDIX. 


Auch  wen  es  die  Herrn  nicht  haben  wollen,  das  sol  man  In  es 
lasseu,  vnd  was  die  Herrn  nicht  haben  wollen,  das  soil  man  abthun 
von  diesen  Arthigkeln,  vnd  die  Meister  des  landes  sind  derselben 
Artigkeln  seindt  sie  nicht  pflichtig  zu  halten  vnd  der  eide  alsz 
Inenhalt  des  Buchs  der  Ordnung,  von  diesen  Artigkeln  der  nicht 
not  ist,  zu  verkiindigen  was  von  gottesdinste,  soil  geschehen,  vnd 
auch  zu  zeringe,  das  alhie  nicht  not  ist  zu  schreiben  etzlichen 
meistern,  wissen  das  alles  wol,  die  dis  vormals  gehort  haben 
lassen. 

Auch  alle  diese  Artigkel  sindt  gemacht  worden  ausz  dem  Texte 
des  alden  Haubtenrechtes,  das  do  haben  gemacht  die  Heyligen 
wirdigen  gekronten  Mertern,  genannt  Claudius,  Christorius,  Sing- 
nificamus,  der  heiligen  Dreyfaltigkeit  vnd  mariam  der  himlischeu 
Konigin  zu  lobe  vnd  zu  ehre. 

Alsz  haben  wir  eine  ordenunge  vnd  statute  darauf  gemacht  mit 
der  Hiilffe  Gottes. 

Aber  sol  ytzlicher  Meyster  alle  geltfasten  lassen  vier  mesze 
halten. 

Aber  an  Sant  Petrus  tage  als  er  erhaben  ward  zu  antiochia  sol 
man  auch  vier  messe  lassen  lesen. 

Aber  die  erste  messe  von  der  heiligen  Dreyfaltigkeit,  die  ander 
von  vnser  lieben  Frauen,  die  dritte  von  den  vier  gekronten 
Merteren,  die  virde  vor  alle  die  sollen  die  in  der  ordenung  gestor- 
ben  sindt,  vnd  vor  alle  die  Hiilffe  vnd  vnderm  (unserm)  Steinwerk 
thun. 

Aber  die  andern  meister  sollen  auch  messe  lassen  halden,  alle 
frauenfest,  Eine  vor  alle  die  vorgenannten  selen,  das  Gelt,  do  er 
lest  messe  darmit  halten,  dasselbig  geldt  sol  er  aus  der  Biichssen 
nemen,  vnnd  das  vbrige  gelt  geben  in  die  Hantbiichssen. 

Aber  zu  gottesdinste  soil  Itzlicher  Meister  geben  von  igklichen 
werk  es  sey  gros  oder  klein  einen  alden  groschen  alle  Frauenfast. 

Aber  sol  ein  Itzlicher  geselle  soli  geben  alle  wochen  einen 
pfennig  zu  gottesdinste  In  die  Biichssen. 

Aber  mehr,  so  sol  kein  Meister  kein  werk  auffnehmen,  er  habe 
den  das  vor  beweyst  an  der  Erbeyt,  das  die  Leute  bewart  werden. 

Aber  kumpt  ein  Meister  von  neues  auff  das  er  vor  nicht  Meys- 
terey  getriben  hatt,  der  sol  zwehn  bewerte  meister  haben,  die  fur 
In  sprechen,  das  er  dem  werk  mag  vorstan,  so  sol  man  In  auff- 
nehmen. 


OEDNUNG  DER  S TEINMETZEN  VOM  JAHRE  1462.  489 


Wo  man  aber  Neue  treffenliche  gebeude  wil  von  neues  anheben, 
do  sindt  die  Herren  dess  gebeudes  einen  Meyster  zu  nemen  wen 
sie  wollen,  vnd  sindt  darzu  verheyschen  zween  oder  viehr  werk- 
meister,  vnd  sollen  sie  fragen,  von  Irera  eid,  die  sie  der  ordnunge 
gethan  haben,  Ob  der  Meyster  das  werk  verfiiren  mag  oder  kan. 

Dan  nemen  Herren  vnd  stete  zu  treffenlichen  Wercken  Imands 
auff,  der  werk  vor  nicht  verheget  hatt,  nicht  werkleutte  darzu 
nemen,  geschicht  den  Schaden  dariiber,  die  haben  die  Meyster  vnd 
gesellen  nicht  vber  zu  richten,  Noch  dan  nicht  zu  bussen. 

Aber  soil  kein  meister  kein  werck  auffnemen,  er  konde  denn 
das  verhegen,  were  es  sache,  das  es  Ime  misserite,  die  Herren  der 
gebeude  haben  Ine  zu  weren,  darumb  vnd  wir  werkleutten.  Das 
musz  er  verpussen  mit  ein  vnd  zwantzig  pfunt  wachs  vnd  dem 
Herrn  den  Schaden  legen. 

Aber  ein  Itzlicher  soil  sein  Zeyt  halden  nach  alt  herkomen 
gewonheyt  des  landes,  als  er  das  bericht,  so  ist  er  losz,  vnd  thete  es 
den  nicht  mit  rathe  noch  komen  des  landes  vnd  des  Hantwercks. 

Aber  das  kein  meister  sol  den  lohn  abprechen  oder  geringer 
machen. 

Vnnd  ein  Itzlicher  njpister  sol  rechtfertig  sein  mit  alien  sachen. 
Er  soil  keinen  palirer  vnd  gesellen  noch  Diener  auff  Boszheyt 
sterken  oder  auff  etwas  do  schade  von  mochte  kommen. 

Ein  Itzlicher  Meyster  soil  seine  Hiidtten  frey  halden  als  das 
darinne  kein  zweytracht  geschehe,  vnd  soil  die  Hiitten  also  frey 
halten  als  ein  gerichtsstadt. 

Aber  kein  Meyster  sol  in  der  Hiitten  ligen  (liigen)  vnd  darinne 
kein  vnzucht  treyben. 

Aber  so  soil  kein  meister  keine  vnziichtige  fraw  lassen  gehen  In 
die  Hiitten,  hat  Imandt  mit  Ir  was  zu  reden,  so  sol  man  von  der 
werckstat  geen,  als  man  mochte  gewerffen  mit  einem  scholhamer 
von  der  werckstat. 

Aber  woe  fremde  meister  hinden  einkemen,  die  haben  In  zu 
bussen  Itliches  stuck  vor  fiinff  pfunt  wrachs. 

Aber  die  gesellen  haben  keinen  Meister  zu  bussen,  sondern.sie 
ziehen  vonn  Im  vnd  verbiten  andern  gesellen  die  ordnung  das 
niemandt  bey  Im  stehe,  so  lange  bisz  er  gebusset  werde. 

Welcher  meister  raubt  stete  oder  an  werksteten  was  neme,  das 
Imandt  schaden  brocht,  wo  einer  mordt  todtschleger  were  vor  echt 


490 


APPENDIX. 


vorechter,  den  soli  man  ausz  der  Ordnunge  des  Hantwerks  gantz 
verwerffen  vnd  In  nirgent  leiden. 

Welcher  meister  einer  den  andern  beredet  vor  gerichte  odder 
liesz  es  thun,  oder  In  vnernst  auszthete  oder  an  In  spreche,  der  ist 
erlosz,  vnd  nicht  gut  keinem  gesellen  noch  meister. 

Ein  Meyster  soil  seine  Pallirer  setzen,  woe  Meyster  vnnd  Pal- 
lirer  bey  einander  sindt  vnnd  keinen  setzen  er  konne  es  denn  verhe- 
gen  das  die  leute  vnd  er  damit  versorgt  sein.  Er  soli  In  die 
Pallirschafft  befehlen,  vnd  die  eid  strebe  mit  maszstabe  vnnd 
winkelmas  zu  den  Heyligen,  die  gebeude  vnd  dess  Meisters  schaden 
zu  bewaren. 

So  soil  kein  Meyster  seine  Pallirer  nicht  vber  die  gesellen  sein 
widerrecht. 

Wenn  ein  meister  einen  Pallirer  hat  gesatzt,  so  sollen  Im  die 
gesellen  geloben  gehorsam  zu  sein  als  dem  Meyster,  vnd  der  Pal- 
lirer soil  es  meistern  vnd  gesellen  verschenken. 

Auch  soil  kein  Meister  von  Pallirer  oder  gesellen  handgeldt 
nemen  umb  vorderunge  willen,  vnd  kein  Lipnus  nicht,  den  kan  er 
sein  lohn  nicht  verdinen,  so  soil  man  Im  Vrlaub  geben  auff  denn 
Sonnabent. 

Kein  meister  soli  keinen  Diener  auffnemen  vmb  kunstwillen,  der 
vor  sein  Hantwerk  verdient  hatt  vnd  recht  erworben,  das  stehet 
dem  Meyster  eine  woche  nicht  zuuor. 

Es  soil  ein  Meister  alle  Wochen  ein  wirt  setzen,  der  do  auszgibt 
vnd  berecht  alle  wochen  dem  neuen  wirt,  vnd  soil  Im  anthworten, 
was  Inn  Biichssen  ist. 

Ein  Meyster  hat  macht  ob  er  lust  hett  zu  Ruhen  inn  der  Hiitten 
zu  Vesperzeit. 

Vnd  ob  ein  Meister  oder  geselle  kemen  die  das  Hantwerck  oder 
die  Kunst  kunden  vnd  begert  eines  zeichens  von  einem  Werk- 
meister,  dem  soli  er  seinen  willen  darumb  machen,  vnd  zu  gottes- 
dienst  geben,  was  Meyster  vnd  gesellen  erkennen.  Vnd  soli  das 
Zeichen  zwiffelt  verschenken  Meystern  vnd  Gesellen. 

Ein  Meyster  soil  seinen  Diener  sein  Zeichen  nicht  lenger  vor- 
halten  den  xiiij  Tag,  Es  were  den  sache  das  er  dem  Meister 
etliche  Zeyt  verseumet  hette,  do  soli  der  Diener  Im  sein  willen  vor 
darumb  machen,  vnd  das  verschenken. 

Ein  Meister  sol  auch  keinen  aufsatz  machen  einem  Diener  sein 


t 

ORDNUNG  DER  S TEINMETZEN  VOM  JAIIRE  1462.  491 


Zeichen  zu  verschenken,  denn  etzlichen  geistliclien,  denn  er  dazu 
bith  fur  einen  pfening  semeln  vor  xv  gr,  ein  Broten  vor  xv  gr. 
Fleisch  zwey  stiibichen  weins,  vnd  soil  nicht  mehr  bithen  denn  x 
gesellen,  bith  er  dariiber,  so  mag  der  Diener  mer  kauffen,  so  wirt 
der  meister  darinne  nicht  gefert. 

Ein  Meister  sol  schlahen  drey  schlege,  ein  Pallirer  zwen  einfort, 
einen  wen  man  riigen  sol  morgen  mittags  abend  nach  dess  landes 
Alter  gewonheit. 

Do  mag  in  meister  einem  Diener,  der  do  vmb  Kunst  dinet  zu 
einem  Pallirer  setzen  also  fern  er  es  verhegen  kan,  das  die  gebeude 
bewart  sindt. 

Do  mag  ein  meister  seinen  Diener  ein  Zeichen  verleihen  in  sein 
Lerjaren  zu  wandern,  wenn  der  meister  nicht  forderunge  hette  das 
er  In  must  lassen  wandern. 

Es  soil  kein  meister  seinen  Diener  kein  Zeichen  lassen  ver- 
schenken, er  habe  den  ausgedinet. 

Es  soil  kein  meister  dem  andern  nachstellen  vnd  den  Diener 
apspenigen  bey  der  Wahr  nach  laute  des  Briffs. 

Do  solle  auch  kein  meister  keinenn  fordern  nicht  der  sich  ver- 
schalket  hat  oder  verkost  hat,  mit  worten  oder  mit  werken,  er  ist 
also  argk  als  ein  Hunt,  In  sol  der  meyster  also  wol  erlosz  legen  als 
den  gesellen. 

Man  soil  auch  keine  meister  vnd  pallirer  vor  gutt  halten  der  da 
aufporget  vnd  bleibt  schuldig  vnd  hat  nicht  willen  zu  bezalen. 
Das  man  es  an  Im  erkennet,  so  soil  man  in  warnen  vnd  sagen,  das 
er  eins  wille  mache  auff  eine  Zeit,  thut  er  das  nicht  vnd  thut  mit 
dess  willen  nicht  den  er  schuldig  ist,  so  sol  man  In  von  aller  Vor- 
derunge  verwerffen,  er  hett  den  deme  seinen  willen  gemacht. 

So  soli  auch  kein  meister  den  andern  bewaschen  oder  beligen, 
oder  nach  seinen  werk  stein,  es  sey  den  sach,  das  einer  dauon  lieffe 
oder  auffsagete  oder  Im  erlaubete,  oder  Im  darumb  bethe,  so  thete 
er  es  one  wan.  Aber  thut  er  die  stiicke  also  vorgesaget  ist,  so  sollen 
In  die  andern  meister  verwerffen. 

Honnet  oder  schande  ein  meister  dem  andern  thut  mit  worten 
oder  mit  werken,  vnd  man  konde  es  auf  In  nicht  briugen,  so  soil 
er  verworfen  werden  von  dem  steinwerk. 

Welich  meister  desz  andern  bau  schent  vnd  er  kan  es  selber 
nicht,  den  Soil  man  verweysen. 


492 


APPENDIX. 


Es  soil  audi  kein  raeister  keinen  gesellen  fordern,  der  den  andern 
beleugt  oder  vnrecht  thut  vnd  sich  rait  offenbarlichen  frauen  umb- 
fiirt,  die  die  in  den  Herbergen  oder  in  Heusern  da  sie  Erbeyten, 
mit  frawen  oder  rait  meyden  unziichtiglichen  zusprechen  oder  vn- 
zucht  dariue  treyben,  der  auch  nicht  beichtet,  oder  kein  recht  thut, 
den  soli  man  verweysen,  vnd  vor  einen  vbeltheter  halten. 

Do  mag  ein  raeister  ein  geraeine  recht  halden  in  seiner  Hiitten 
vber  seine  eigene  Gesellen,  vnd  soli  auch  recht  richten  vnd  nicht 
nach  hasse,  nach  feindtschafft  nach  freindschafft  bey  seinem  eide. 

Auch  soil  kein  meister  alein  nicht  richten  was  ehre  vnd  leumunt 
antriffe,  sondern  es  sollen  zusamen  komen  drey  meister,  die  dan 
vber  solche  sachen  richten  sollen. 

Auch  soil  ein  Itzlicher  Meister  seine  gesellen  bey  seinem  eyde, 
alle  vierteyl  Jare  fragen  ob  irgent  Hasz  oder  neidt  vnder  In  were 
das  den  gepeuden  schaden  niocht  brengen,  das  soil  ein  meister  be- 
richten  vnd  hinlegen,  welcher  geselle  das  nicht  thut,  dem  soil 
vrlaub  gegeben  werden,  auff  das  kein  Zwitracht  vnder  Ine  sey, 
auff  das  ob  die  Herren  oder  Baumeister  wider  weren,  da  soli  ein 
meister  recht  thun  vnd  unrecht  lassen,  auff  das,  das  er  sey  eide 
bewaret. 

So  soli  alle  quatember  von  Herren  oder  Bauleuten  vorheeren, 
obirgent  gebruch  were,  ob  sie  Ire  Zeit  vorhinderten,  topelten,  spil- 
ten  oder  andere  vnordentliche  sachen  triben,  das  pallirer  vnd  raeister 
schaden  raochte  dauon  komen,  Das  sollen  sie  dem  Meister  sagen, 
das  er  sie  darumb  straffe  als  recht  ist,  verschweigen  ein  solches 
die  Herren  vnd  offenbarens  dem  meister  nicht  vnd  haldens  den  ge- 
sellen zu  gute,  da  ist  der  Mister  nicht  darumbe  zu  straffen,  vnd 
wen  ein  Bauherre  wuste  es,  vnd  ein  meister  nit  darumb  straffet,  so 
thut  er  seinem  eide  nicht  genug. 

Ob  zu  richten  were  vnder  Meistern  das  orleumut  antrifft  oder 
werk  wurden  vertriben,  oder  falsch  Ding  machen,  das  schaden 
daraus  mochte  komen,  das  Jarwerke  antreffe,  oder  grose  gebeude, 
das  soli  man  richten,  wo  das  Buch  der  ordnunge  liget  vnd  die 
meister  alle  Jar  hinkomen  auf  den  tagk  als  er  ist  vorberiirt ;  So 
sindt  die  Meister  einen  oberrichter  zu  kiszen,  vnd  die  Pallirer  vnd 
gesellen  sollen  Schepffen  kiszen  zu  dem  Richter  die  sollen  Richten 
nach  Clag  vnd  anthwort  auf  die  Eide,  do  sie  auff  vermant  werden, 
ob  sie  sich  in  etzlichen  sachen  irgent  erregten,  so  mogen  dieselbigen 


ORDNUNG  DER  STEINMETZEN  VOM  JAHRE  1462.  493 


aber  schidleute  zu  In  ruffen,  vnd  sich  besagen,  das  den  Jederme- 
niglich  recht  geschihet. 

Es  mugen  sich  die  Meister  vnd  gesellen  selber  vnder  einander 
pussen,  das  In  die  Herren  nicht  einreden  aus  eide  brechen  nach 
redlichkeit  zu  bessten. 

Ob  die  meister  Iraands  hetten  vnder  In,  es  were  meister  vnd  ge- 
sellen, vnd  nicht  In  gehorsam  wolden  sein,  vnd  sich  wider  diese 
ordnunge  setzen,  do  bithen  wir  alle  Herren  das  niemandt  auff- 
nemen  noch  verteydigen  nach  vordringen,  wirt  er  dariiber  wider 
recht  wider  uns  verteydingt,  so  wissen  wir  wol  nach  lautte  der  ord- 
nunge, wie  wir  vus  darinne  halden  sollen. 

So  ein  Meister  oder  geselle  were,  der  sich  selber  wolt  verteydigen 
wider  recht,  so  soil  man  stette  vnd  Herren  anruffen  vnd  In  die 
Sache  fur  legen  vnd  sie  anruffen,  das  sie  vnser  recht  helfen  strecken 
do  sind  wir  In  wiirden  gehorsam  vnd  sein  denselbigen  die  vns  zu 
rechte  helffen,  wen  sie  vnser  begeren. 

Also  sindt  die  pallirer  vnd  halten  das  also  das  alt  herkomen  der 
Hiittenrecht  nach  Inhaldunge  der  alten  gewonheit  vnd  nach  dem 
Buch  vnd  ordnunge  der  eide. 

Ein  Itzlicher  pallirer  soil  seinem  meister  seine  Hiitten  bewaren 
vnd  als  er  dazu  geschworen  hat,  vnd  alles  das,  das  Ime  die  werck- 
stat  geantwortet  wirdt,  auch  bewaren,  vnd  der  gebeude  gut  halten. 

Ein  pallirer  soil  den  gesellen  gutten  willen  beweysen  vnd  sie 
giitlichen  vnd  weysame  ane  Zorn,  was  sie  fragen.  Er  soil  vber 
keinen  gesellen  noch  Diener  vber  recht  helfen,  Er  soil  allweg  Richt- 
scheyt  vnd  Kolmasz,  vnd  alles  was  zu  den  gehbrt,  recht  fertigen, 
das  kein  felschunge  nicht  darinne  sey,  woe  es  der  meister  selber 
nicht  recht  fertigt  oder  zu  mocht  so  geburt  es  dem  pallirer,  Als 
dick  der  meister  in  den  Artigkeln  Eins  hinder  Im  kerne  do  er  solchs 
verseumete,  so  ist  er  dem  Meister  verfallen  xij  kr. 

Der  Pallirer  soil  dem  gesellen  vud  Diener  williglichen  stein  fiir- 
legen,  abreissen,  vnd  wol  besehen,  ob  er  recht  vnd  wol  gemacht  ist, 
den  gesellen,  die  es  nicht  verschuldt  haben,  woe  der  meister  falsch 
Dingk  fende,  das  etwas  daran  falsch  were,  das  soil  dem  meister 
verbussen  mit  acht  kr  vnd  der  geselle  mit  vj  kr. 

Ob  ein  pallirer  einen  Stein  verschliige  das  er  nicht  tuchte,  da 
soil  er  seinen  lohn  verliessen  den  er  an  dem  stein  verdinet  hat  vnd 
den  stein  bezalen,  kompt  er  nicht  zu  nutze. 
42 


494 


APPENDIX. 


Welche  pallirer  pusse  ,vornemen  von  seumnisse  wegen  oder 
ander  sache  Bruch,  vnd  nicht  minet  vnd  meldet,  so  sol  er  die  Busse 
zwiefechtig  geben  die  verwiirkt  hat  derselbe. 

Es  soil  kein  pallirer  seinen  meister  abdringen  von  seinem  baw 
mit  worten  oder  mit  werken,  Er  soil  In  nicht  mit  falschen  Worten 
hindernkosen  alsz  offt  er  das  thut,  so  wirt  er  erlosz  vnd  nicht  gut, 
vnd  so  sol  auch  kein  meister  noch  die  gesellen  bey  In  nicht  dulden, 
wer  aber  das  einer  bey  Im  stunde,  der  ist  desselben  gleichen  auch 
Ehrlosz. 

Ein  pallirer  sol  zu  rechter  zeyt  anszschlahen  vnd  sol  es  durch 
niemandes  willen  lassen. 

Wenn  ein  meister  nicht  bey  dem  werk  ist,  oder  von  hiunen  were, 
so  hat  der  pallirer  gantze  vole  macht  zu  thun  oder  zu  lassen  das 
recht  ist  vnd  In  Abschiede  dess  meisters. 

Der  pallirer  sol  dem  gesellen  vnd  Dinern  vnden  auf  die  steine 
malen,  wenn  die  gesellen  vnd  Diener  haben  das  anschlahen  ver- 
seumet,  vnd  nicht  zu  rechter  Zeit  komen,  es  sey  am  morgenbrott, 
nimpt  er  nicht  die  Busse,  so  sol  er  sie  selber  geben. 

Der  pallirer  sol  keinen  Hader  machen  aber  keinen  darzu  sterken, 
wider  an  Zeichen,  noch  In  Werksteten,  er  soil  alwegen  Richt 
fridsam  vnd  rechtfertig  sein,  er  soil  die  gesellen  dazu  halten,  das 
sie  irer  stein  vnd  erbeyt  warteu,  Es  sey  welcherley  es  sey,  das 
den  gebeuden  vnd  meistern  nicht  schaden  dauon  kommen.  Die 
Busse  stehet  auiF  dem  Meister,  was  er  darumb  zu  schaden  kumpt. 

Es  soil  kein  pallirer  zustaten  das  man  quos  Zeche  hilde  in  der 
Hiitten  vnder  der  Zeit,  sondern  in  der  Vesper  Rue. 

Er  soil  auch  nicht  gestaten,  das  man  hoher  zere  zu  dem  vesper- 
broth  dem  vmb  einen  pfenig,  Es  were  den  das  man  geschencke 
hatte,  das  ein  wander  geselle  komen  were,  so  hat  der  pallirer  ein 
stunde  macht  freuehreen. 

Ein  pallirer  hat  macht  zu  fordern  auff  den  nachsten  lohn  einen 
itzlichen  wander  gesellen,  vnd  macht  vrlaub  zu  geben  auff  den  Ion 
abent,  wen  er  einem  Gebeuen  oder  meister  nicht  eben  ist. 

Er  hat  macht  einen  itzlichen  Gesellen  oder  Diener  zu  erlauben 
eine  bequemliche  Zeyt  ane  schaden. 

Ein  itzlicher  pallirer  sol  der  erste  sein  des  morgens  vnd  nach 
essens  sein  in  der  Hiitten,  wen  man  aufschleust,  vnd  der  letzt 
herausz  es  sey  zu  mitag  oder  abendt,  Das  sich  alle  gesellen  sindt 


ORDNUNG  DER  S TEINMETZEN  VOM  JARRE  1462.  495 


nach  Im  zu  richten  vnd  dester  eher  koraen  sollen  in  die  arbeit, 
Also  dicke  er  seumnisse  thut  vnd  der  meister  erfert  es,  was  schaden 
dauon  komme  soli  der  pallirer  den  schaden  legen. 

Der  pallirer  sol  alle  freyheit  der  Hiitten  vnd  werksteten  helffen 
verthedigen. 

Der  pallirer  soil  auch  kein  gebew  nach  wercksteten  bussen,  nach 
iiberschlag  raachen,  dann  nach  der  alt  herkomenden  gewonheit  mit 
dem  lone,  thut  er  anders,  so  ist  er  erlosz. 

Err  soil  auch  alle  dingk  der  Werkstat  behalden  vnd  zu  rate 
halden  also  wol  als  der  meister. 

VON  DER  ORDNUNGE 

DER  GESELLEN,  WIE  SIE  SICH  HALDTEN  SOLLEN. 

Welcher  geselle  bithet  forderung  zu  einem  andern  meister  Ehe  er 
vrlaub  nimpt  von  dem  Meister  bey  dem  er  steht,  der  sol  geben  ein 
pfunt  wachs  vnd  soil  vrlaub  haben. 

Welcher  geselle  mere  tragt  oder  wascherey  treibet  zwischen  dem 
meister  oder  ander  leuten,  dem  soli  man  bussen  mit  einem  halben 
wochenlohn. 

Wer  eines  andern  gezeug  nimpt  ane  vrlaub,  soil  geben  ij  kr. 

Welche  gesellen  maszbret  vnrecht  aufflegt,  oder  das  breth  lest 
ligen  ee  er  habe  gewert,  het  ane  laube,  oder  abnimpt  ehe  der 
meister  oder  pallirer  die  bereytunge  sehen,  wer  winkelmasse  lest 
hangen  an  dem  stein  oder  das  richtscheyt  die  locher  haben,  lest 
liegen  vnd  nicht  auffhenget,  oder  den  stein  von  der  pank  lest 
fallen,  oder  die  haken  ausz  dem  Helm  fert  oder  bomret,  oder  sein 
mas  lest  anders  den  an  der  stat  die  dazu  geordnet  ist,  were  die 
fenster  bey  seiner  Bank  nicht  zuthut,  vor  alle  diese  vorgeschribene 
Artigkel  wer  das  thut,  der  soil  geben  iij  kr  allemal  zu  pusse. 

Welcher  geselle  vbel  spricht  oder  einer  den  andern  ligen  heiszt 
in  schimpff  oder  in  ernst  oder  in  oppeliche  wort  fint  in  der  werck- 
stat,  der  soil  geben  xij  kr  zu  busse. 

Welcher  gesell  des  andern  spott,  stochert,  oder  In  namet  mit 
hinderkosen,  der  soil  xv  kr  geben  zu  busse. 

Welcher  geselle  nicht  hulfe  bithet,  seinen  stein  ausz  oder  ein  zu 
wenden,  brengen  oder  vmbzuwenden  wen  es  not  ist,  oder  sein 
Zeichen  anschlecht  ob  er  recht  gemacht  sey,  aber  es  soli  geschehen, 


496 


APPENDIX. 


ehe  man  den  stein  besihet,  das  er  in  das  Lager  komt  vngefraget, 
oder  verdiget  vngefinget,  der  soli  geben  zu  busse  ein  halb  pfunt 
wachs. 

Welcher  geselle  sich  vbertrincke  oder  vberisset  vnd  vndeut  das 
man  es  erfert,  der  soli  geben  einen  wochen  Ion  vnd  j  pfundt  wachs. 

Welcher  gesell  hatt  macht  in  werkstetten  oder  in  Zechen,  oder 
bey  erbaren  frauen  riichtigen  frauen  darein  fiirt  oder  schenket, 
den  soli  man  vrlaub  geben  vnd  denselbigen  wochen  Ion,  den  er  die 
selbige  wochen  verdinet  hat  behalten  vnd  in  die  biichsen  legen. 

Welcher  geselle  verschlecht  huttengelt,  oder  stilet  oder  mordet 
raubet,  oder  ander  vner  sitzt,  und  sich  mit  bosen  frauen  yn  den 
landen  umbf  iirth,  vnd  nicht  peichtet  vnd  gotes  rechte  nicht  thut, 
die  sol  man  aus  dem  Hantwergk  verwerffen  vnd  Ewiglichen  ver- 
weisen. 

Welcher  den  andern  schendet  oder  enleimut  ehre  redet,  der  soli 
es  verbessern  nach  erkentnisse  meister  vnd  gesellen,  wen  er  es  nicht 
konde  dazu  bringen. 

Wer  dem  andern  was  zusagt  vnd  kunde  es  nicht  zu  im  bringen, 
den  soli  man  also  hertiglich  straffen,  das  er  weysz,  was  er  ein 
andermal  redet,  bringet  er  es  zu  was  denn  die  gesellen  erkennen, 
vnd  was  die  sache  ist,  Darnach  sol  man  richten  vnd  keinen  gesellen 
verkieszen  vmb  neides  willen. 

Do  sol  kein  geselle  die  Diener  vorhomuten,  er  sol  es  dem 
meister  clagen  was  Im  der  Diener  getan  hat,  der  soil  in  darumb 
straffen. 

Da  soil  kein  pallirer  noch  geselle  noch  Diener  selber  richter 
sein,  wo  sie  das  nicht  thun,  so  sindt  sie  buszwirdig  was  in  der 
meister  zusaget,  vnd  der  meister  soli  richter  sein  vnd  niemandt 
anders. 

Es  sollen  sich  die  gesellen  nicht  vnder  einander  bussen  hinder 
dem  meister  oder  pallirer. 

Es  soil  auch  kein  gesell  bey  keinen  versprochen  gesellen  stein- 
hauven,  er  habe  sich  den  recht  gefertigt  auff  dem  tage  des  Jars 
den  die  meister  haben. 

Es  soli  auch  kein  gesell  keine  versprochen  Fraw  In  die  Hiitten 
oder  werkstett  fiiren  oder  zihen  wo  meister  bey  einander  sein, 
welcher  das  thut  der  soil  geben  iiij  pfunt  wachs. 

Welcher  geselle  selber  heilige  tage  machet  in  der  wochen,  wenn 


ORDNUNG  DER  STEINMETZEN  VOM  JAIIRE  1462.  497 


er  erbeten  sol,  dem  sthat  er  nicht  heilige  vnd  man  sol  Im  nicht 
lernen. 

Welcher  geselle  ist  auszen  wen  er  erbeiten  sol,  das  man  das 
Morgenbrot  gegessen  hat,  dem  sol  man  fur  mitage  nicht  lonen, 
bleibt  er  ausen  den  tagk  vnd  kompt  auf  das  abentbrot,  dem  sol 
man  den  ganzen  tag  nicht  lonen. 

Welcher  gesell  am  Sonntag  vnd  am  grossen  Fasten  zu  der  hohe 
messe  nicht  mit  seinem  meister  Ime  selbst  zu  ehre  in  die  Kirchen 
gehet  vnd  bleibt  ausz  ane  laube  der  sol  zu  Gottesdinst  iiij  kr  geben. 

Welcher  pallirer  oder  geselle  am  montag  nach  mitag  wen  es 
eins  schlagt,  nith  bey  seinem  meister  ist  vnd  halde  ein  Vesper  Rue 
mit  Im  vnd  verhore,  was  er  den  Montag  thun  soil,  der  sol  geben 
alle  Zechen,  setzet  er  sich  darwider,  so  soil  er  vrlaub  haben  auff 
den  Montag  den  vngehorsam  bittet  er  laube  das  heftige  mit  antrit, 
so  darf  er  niches  geben  vnd  ist  losz. 

Ein  Itzlicher  meister  mag  einem  gesell  en  vrlaub  geben  von  dem 
Baw  wen  es  im  gotlich  ist  ane  Zorn. 

Ein  Itzlicher  gesell  mag  vrlaub  nemen  alle  lohn  Abent  wen  es 
Ime  nicht  gefellet  do  ist  niemandt  zu  dem  andern  gebunden. 

Welcher  geselle  bey  einem  meister  einen  winter  stehen  derselbige 
soil  dem  meister  stehen  bis  auff  Sanct  Johannistag,  wenn  man  die 
kron  hanget,  Es  were  den  sach,  das  den  gesellen  hefftige  sachen  zu 
dem  meister  hette,  das  Im  an  seinem  Hantwerk  schatte,  so  mag  er 
wol  abzihen.  Auch  weis  der  geselle  was  vnredliches  auff  den 
meister  vnd  verschweiget  das  vnd  truck  sich  den  winter  vnd  auff 
den  Sumer  vnd  neinet,  der  geselle  thut  das  als  ein  treuloser  vnd 
ist  nicht  gut  keinen  gesellen. 

Es  soil  kein  gesell  libnis  wider  (weder)  pallirer  noch  meister 
geben  vmb  erbeit  willen,  bey  dem  soli  kein  gesell  stehen,  er  sey 
den  gebust. 

Es  soil  kein  geselle  den  andrem  kiinstlern  vmb  geldt  ein  itzlicher 
soil  ein  stuck  vmb  das  ander  geben  oder  sol  in  damit  ehren. 

Kein  geselle  soil  widersprechen  were  es  an  meister  oder  pallirer 
sich  verheist. 

Do  soil  kein  geselle  messer  oder  andere  were  bey  Im  tragen  in 
wTerksteten  oder  in  Zechen,  den  ein  messer  der  halben  elen  lang 
sey,  was  es  langer  ist  so  soil  er  vij  kr  geben  zu  pusse  vnd  ist 
gleichwol  ablegen. 

42*  2  G 


498 


APPENDIX. 


Wo  ein  geselle  nicht  auszgedinet  hat,  welcher  geselle  sein 
Zeichen  gekauft  hat  vnd  nicht  verdinet  hat,  wo  ein  mitler  oder 
heifer  auffsetzet  vnd  lernet  sie  stein  hauen,  bey  dem  soil  niemandt 
stehen. 

Do  soil  auch  kein  geselle  seinem  meister,  oder  pallirer  hinder- 
kosen,  er  wolde  es  denne  bekennen  das  stehet  bey  dess  raeisters  war. 

Es  sollen  keine  gesellen  die  Baumeistern  berupffen  oder  vbel 
abrichten,  do  die  gesellen  williglichen  thun  was  sie  die  Baumeister 
heiszen,  wen  der  meister  oder  pallirer  nicht  bey  der  arbeyt  seint. 
Sein  sie  aber  dabey  so  sind  sie  da  dem  meister  oder  pallirer  zu 
sagen,  wie  In  note  ist  zu  sagen. 

Auch  soil  kein  geselle  dem  Baumeister  clagen  vber  einen  andern 
gesellen,  sondern  den  Werckmeister. 

Es  soil  kein  Baumeister  sich  keines  haders  vuder  den  gesellen 
zu  berichtigen,  sie  wiirden  den  von  dem  meister  darumb  gebeten. 

Da  soil  auch  kein  geselle  stehen  bey  den  die  da  Baumeister 
halden  ane  des  meisters  willen. 

Welche  gesellen  die  Baumeister  zechen  bey  den  soli  auch  kein 
geselle  mer  stehen. 

Was  Baumeistern  gebricht  oder  den  pallirer  oder  gesellen  das 
sollen  sie  dem  meister  clagen  vnd  mit  keinen  zu  hadern. 

Auch  soil  (kein)  pallirer  oder  geselle  heimlich  lone  nemen 
hinder  dem  meister,  ob  an  das  die  Baumeister  bussen  wolden,  das 
stehet  auff  dem  meister,  wie  er  es  mit  den  gesellen  halden  will. 

Auch  soil  kein  geselle  mit  dem  andern  auff  das  perfeten  gehen 
sondern  einer  nach  dem  andern,  das  die  werkstete  nicht  ledig 
stehen,  oder  einer  soli  den  andern  in  die  Hiitten  tragen,  oder  ij  kr 
geben. 

Da  sol  auch  kein  gesel  was  machen  oder  stein  nemen  zu  etwas, 
oder  aus  der  Hiitten  gehen  ane  laube  des  meisters,  So  stehet  es  auff 
dem  meister,  was  er  ist  verfallen. 

Wen  ein  geselle  wandert,  so  -sol  er  von  dem  meister  in  freund- 
schaft  vnd  nicht  im  feindschafft  von  Im  schiede  wo  er  kumpt  auff 
ein  ander  Hiitten. 

Kompt  ein  wander  gesell  Ee  man  ruhe  anschlecht,  der  verdinet 
das  tag  Ion.  Ein  Itzlich  wander  gesell,  wen  man  Ime  das  geschenke 
auff  saget,  so  sol  er  umbher  gehen  von  einem  zu  dem  andern  vnd 
sol  In  der  verdanken. 


ORDNUNG  DER  STEINMETZEN  VOM  JAHRE  1462. 


Das  ist  ein  Grusz,  wie  ein  Itzlichcr  geselle  grlissen  soil,  wenu  er 
von  erstcn  zu  der  Hiitte  eingehet,  so  soil  er  also  sprechen  : 

Gott  griisse  euch,  Gott  weyse  cuch,  Gott  lone  euch,  euch  Oeber- 
meister  erwiderung,  Pallirer  vnd  euch  hiibschen  gesellen,  so  sol  In 
der  meister  oder  pallirer  danken,  das  er  sieht  welcher  der  oberst  ist 
in  der  Hiitten. 

Do  soil  der  geselle  an  denselbigen  anheben  vnd  sol  sprechen,  der 
Meister,  vnd  nennt  In  bey  namen,  der  enpeut  euch  seinen  werden 
grusz,  so  sol  der  geselle  umbhergehn  von  einem  zu  dem  andern, 
Itzlichen  freuntlich  zu  griiszen  alsz  er  den  obersten  gegriisset  hat. 

So  sint  Ime  alle  meister  vnd  pallirer  vnd  gesellen  erberglichen 
schencken,  wie  die  vorgeschriebene  stiicke  von  des  grusses  vnd 
geschenke  wegen,  nicht  den  sol  man  nicht  vor  gut  halten,  er  sey 
den  gebust  vmb  ein  pfundt  wachs,  xxiiij  kr. 

Ein  Itzlicher  Geselle,  wen  er  gedanket  wil  er  forderuug  haben,  so 
sol  er  den  meister  darumb  bethen  so  sol  In  der  meister  fbrdern  auff 
das  nechste  lolm  vnd  nit  versagen,  auff  das  der  geselle  Zerunge 
verdinet,  hette  der  meister  nicht  mehr  den  das  er  alein  stunde,  der 
meister  erledig  gan  vnd  anfordern. 

Ein  Itzlicher  wandergesell  soli  bithen  vmb  eine  blicke,  darnach 
vmb  ein  stiik  steins,  darauf  darnach  vmb  gezeugk,  das  sol  man  In 
williglichen  leihen. 

Ein  Itzlicher  Gesell  soli  die  andern  Gesellen  alle  bithen  vnd  kein 
sol  es  verhoren,  sie  soli  en  alle  helffen,  Helffet  mir  auff  oder  In  das 
euch  Gott  helffe,  wen  sie  geholfen  haben  so  soli  er  seinen  Hut  abe- 
thunn  vnd  soli  In  danken  vnd  sprechen,  Gott  danke  dem  meister 
vnd  pallirer  vnd  den  Erbarn  gesellen. 

Ob  irgend  einem  gesellen  was  nott  wiirde  von  Kranckheit  wegen, 
das  er  nicht  Zerung  hette,  dieweyl  er  lage  krank,  so  soli  man  Ime 
aus  der  Biichsen  helfen,  wirdt  er  gesundt,  so  soil  er's  wider  legen. 

Ob  irgend  ein  geselle  auszziige  von  der  Ordnung  wegen  das  das 
Hantwerk  antrete,  dem  soil  man  auch  die  Zerunge  legen  ausz  der 
Buchssen. 


INDEX. 


ABBOTS  and  clerics  retain  mem- 
bership with  Masonic  guilds,  70. 
Abjuration  formula,  ancient,  394,  etc. 
Abrac  and  Jao  or  Jehovah  engraved 
on  stones,  419,  426. 
equivalent  to  Jao,  Jaw,  or  Jehovah, 
425. 

means    "sacred"    or  "ineffable 

name,"  425. 
mysteries  of,  218. 

or  Abraxas,  derived  from  Egypt, 
456,  etc. 

or  Abraxas,  the  Basilidian  god,  418. 
Abracadabra,  magical  property  of,  418. 
in  form  of  triangle,  418. 
traced  to  Abrac,  418. 
Admission  of  craftsmen  into  mediaeval 

lodges,  300. 
Alban,  St.,  zeal  for  Masons,  164. 
Apprentices,  nvmber  of,  allowed,  105, 
200. 

Apprenticeship,    duration    of,  105, 

206-7. 
age  for,  205. 
Arch,  carried  to  the  west,  345. 
Architecture  cultivated  in  convents, 

43. 

mediaeval,  uniformity  of,  and  why, 
158. 

passes  from  convents  to  lay  guilds, 
70. 

schools  of,  in  convents,  46. 
Art,  building,  sacred,  363. 


Art,  decline  of,  in  Roman  Empire,  17, 
23.  , 
in  monasteries,  51. 
in  the  tenth  century,  49. 
schools  of,  established  by  Charle- 
magne, 38. 
Artists,  influx  of,  to  Constantinople, 
21,  344. 

Ashlar,  ancient  use  of  word,  189. 
Athelstane  protects  Masons,  165.  440. 

BALDUR,  his  attributes  of  beauty 
and  goodness,  409. 
lamentation  over  his  death,  and 

search,  409. 
legend  of,  identical  with  Hiramic, 
408. 

Basilica,  altered  to  Christian  temples, 
18. 

Bastards  cannot  be  Masons,  105. 
Bausak,  master  at  Cologne,  79. 
Blows  or  strokes  with  mallet^  etc.,  as- 
semble the  craft,  303. 
three,  two,  and  one,  303,  304. 
Blue  altar,  oaths  on,  296. 
color  of  lodge,  why,  295. 
Masonic,  derived  from  Norsemen, 
295. 

Boileau's  ordinances,  104,  479. 
Bondmen  cannot  be  Masons,  105. 
Bridge  builders  in  Italy,  86. 
Brother,  Masons  to  call  each  other, 
191. 

501 


502 


INDEX. 


Brothers'  Book,  145. 

Builders  follow  missionaries,  38. 

monastic,  48. 
Building  fraternities  in  monasteries, 
49. 

Buildings  in  time  of  Charlemagne,  39. 
Byzantine  art  in  Europe,  343,  etc. 

builders  forced  into  close  union,  354. 

builders  in  Italy,  40,  343. 

builders  in  Persia,  346. 

builders  in  Russia,  348. 

builders  in  Spain,  347. 
Byzantium,  art  at,  374,  etc. 

CAEMENTAEIUS,  used  for  Mason, 
189. 

Candle,  and  oath  under,  317,  note  (1). 
Candles  in  triangular  forms,  454. 
Capital,  Roman,  changed,  19. 
Cardinal  points  of  lodge,  299. 
Ceremonies,    Pagan,    continued  by 

Christianity,  3G0. 
Ceremony  of  taking  an  oath,  313. 
Chaplain  in  guilds,  399. 
Charges  of  Prince  Edwin,  166. 

sworn  to,  171. 
Charles  Martel  and  the  Masons,  163, 

282. 

claimed  on  account  of  his  hammer, 
284. 

Charters,  papal,  to  Freemasons,  376. 

to  guilds  of  late  date,  66. 

to  towns  and  cities,  61-2. 
Christians,  Judaized,  372. 
Churches,  symbolism  of,  29. 

and  cathedrals  built  in  eleventh 
century  by  Freemasons,  70. 

erected  by  Dominicans,  87. 
Cities,  development  of,  61-2. 
Clerics,  skilled  workmen,  36. 
Coffin,  conventual,  symbol  of  death, 
414. 

Colleges  of  artificers,  ancient,  364. 
of  artificers,  ancient,  destroyed,  364. 
of  artificers  in  the  seventh  century, 
374. 

Colloquy  for  visiting  craftsmen,  215. 


Colloquy  in  opening  and  closing  lodge, 
268. 

Cologne,  cathedral  of,  79. 

Columns,  Jewish,  wisdom,  strength,  and 

beauty,  461. 
of  wisdom,  strength,  and  beautv, 

287,  etc. 

their  originals  in  Norse  temples,  289. 

three  symbolic,  whence  derived,  286. 
Compasses  as  Masonic  mark,  328. 
Conservators  of  Torgau,  177. 
Corporations  of  builders,  Greek,  30. 

building,  immunites  to,  366. 

building,  reorganized  by  Constan- 
tine,  365. 

cleric  and  lay,  in  France,  103. 

in  Rome  have  banners,  365. 
Courts,  Masonic,  how  composed,  254. 

universality  of,  in  Middle  Ages,  262. 
Craft,  ecclesiastic,  how  managed,  45. 
Craftsmen  at  labor,  225. 

banished  from  Byzantium  received 
in  Europe,  40. 
Cross,  reverence  for  the,  354. 
Crypt  used  for  Masonic  rites,  198. 

DEACON'S  staff  a  badge  of  author- 
ity, 305. 

Degrees,  three,  at  an  early  period,  46. 
Dominican  monks   as  Masons  and 

stonecutters,  94. 
Dress  of  mediaeval  Masons,  201. 
Duties  of  craftsmen,  210. 

EASTERN    builders    and  saint 
marks,  83,  325. 
Egyptian  and  Jewish  mysteries,  422, 
424. 

Elias  Ashmole  and  Masonry  in  the 

seventeenth  century,  136. 
England,  Freemasonry  in,  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  136,  164. 
German  Masons  in,  123. 
no  especial  immunities  to  Masons 
in,  128. 

uses  Gallic  builders  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  77. 


INDEX. 


503 


Erwin  of  Steinbach,  80. 

Essenes,  a  secret  Jewish  society,  401. 

Euclid  and  geometry,  161. 

and  the  Masons,  160. 
Exemption  to  Masons,  110. 
Expulsion  from  the  craft,  237. 

FELLOW-CRAFT,  after  appren- 
ticeship, 209. 
Fellow-craft,  degree  of,  20G. 
has  a  mark,  212,  340. 
privileges  of,  211. 
Feudal  system,  55. 
Fines,  Masonic  and  guildic,  222. 
Fish  symbol  and  mark,  27,  324. 
Five  a  Masonic  numeral,  307-8. 
France,  German  masters  in,  100-1. 
Free-born  only  eligible,  why,  271. 
Freemason,  early  use  of  naine,138,437. 

name  of,  whence  derived,  187,  435. 
Freemasons  a  "  nomadic  race,"  199. 
how  they  travelled,  200. 
papal  indulgences  to,  uncertain,  33. 
work  by,  in  Alsace,  74. 
Freemasonry  as  an  architectural  art 
body,  154. 
cause  of  its  decline,  155,  etc. 
formally  opened  to  all  classes,  140. 
in  England  a  charitable  club,  131. 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  101. 
preserves  mediaeval  elements,  53. 
French  Masons  in  Britain,  77,  122. 
Frere-macon,  192,  4371 

letter,  synonym  for  Hebrew  Yod, 
j  351,468. 
Gavel,  Master's,  convened  mediaeval 
court,  274. 
Master's,  its  judicial  connection,  274. 
Master's,  or  mallet,  its  antiquitv, 
273. 

Master's,  or  mallet,  symbol  of,  274. 
Master's,  or  mallet,  tvpe  of  power, 
274,  434. 

Master's,  symbol  of  possession,  274. 
means  a  gift ;  type  of  tenure,  273. 
symbol  of  death,  413. 


Geometricians   honored  by  Roman 
law,  363. 

General,  or  Grand  Master,  78,  93,  106, 
1 34. 

German  architects  in  Italy,  87. 

Masters  in  Netherlands  and  Scan- 
dinavia, 99-100. 
Masters  in  Spain,  97. 
Germany  maintains  Pagan  supersti- 
tions, 379-385. 
Grand  Lodge,  annual,  258. 
in  Germany,  when  ended,  151. 
jurisdiction  of,  confirmed  by  royalty, 

143,  260. 
when  first  in  Germany,  142,  144. 
Grand  Master,  vide  General  Maste.-, 

78,  93,  106,  134. 
Grave,  open,  in  monasteries,  414„ 
Greek  art  in  Middle  Ages,  51. 

corporations  of  builders,  72. 
Grip,  secret,  conferred  on  candidates, 
213. 

Guilds,  antiquity  of,  73,  339,  etc. 
at  Florence,  89. 
early,  in  Italy,  33. 
for  mutual  protection,  65. 
in  Italy  and  Eastern  corporations 

unite,  33,  377,  etc. 
joined  by  noblemen,  134-5,  396,  etc 
laws  of,  early  digested,  203. 
of  Freemasons,  69. 
of  Thor,  etc.,  abjuration  formula 

of,  394,  etc. 
of  trades  reestablished  in  Rome,  365. 
power  of,  204. 

rapid  spread  and  power  of,  66-7.  , 
secret  arts  in,  375. 

HAIL,  or  Hale,  its  signification  and 
antiquity,  317-8. 
Hailing  sign,  215. 

Hammer  of  Master,  descended  from 
Thor,  276. 
its  origin  and  symbolism,  276. 
sign,  279. 

symbol  of  possession,  277. 
type  of  death,  280-1,  413. 


G- 


INDEX. 


Harmony,  lodge  a  type  of,  212. 
Hat,  emblem  of  liberty,  301. 

off  in  lodge,  216. 

significance  of,  301. 

typical  of  power  and  subjection,  302. 

worn  by  Teutonic  judges,  302. 
Henry  VI.  and  the  Masons,  129. 

manuscript  of,  483. 
Hills,  lodges  on,  198. 
Hiram,  legend  of,  and  his  death,  408. 

legend  of,  prototype  of  Baldur,  408. 

skilled  Tyrian  builder,  163. 
History,  legendary,  of  Masons,  157,  etc. 

of  Freemasonry  in  England,  113. 

of  French  Masons,  103. 
Holidome,  oath  on,  and  meaning  of, 
171. 

ICONOCLASM,  influence  of,  on  art, 
352. 

Image  of  master  builder,  80. 

worship  forbidden,  39. 
Initiation,  burlesque,  213. 

customs  at,  214. 

how  prepared  for,  213. 

into  mediseval  Masonry,  213. 
Installation  by  procession,  320-1. 
Irish  Master  Mason,  98. 
Italian  monk  architects,  85. 

J for  Yod,  464. 
Jachin  and  Boaz,  columns  of,  333, 
etc. 

Jacob  Dotzinger,  143. 
Jah  or  Jao,  creative  power,  424. 
Jehovah  cut  in  mediseval  churches, 
424. 

name  of,  only  spoken  by  High- 
Priest,  454. 

pronunciation  of  lost,  and  how,  424, 
455. 

solemn  oath  by,  316. 
Jerusalem    typified   during  Middle 

Ages,  373. 
Jewish  learning  at  an  early  age,  369. 
legislation  incorporated  in  Roman 
code,  371,  etc. 


Jewish  traditions  in  Roman  corpora- 
tions, 368. 

Jews,  condition  of,  under  Charle- 
magne, 369. 
condition  of,  under  Roman  empe- 
rors, 370-2. 
learning  of  the,  370-2. 

John  Muruo,  French  Master  of  Ma- 
sons, 113,  etc. 

Jurisdiction  of  Grand  Master,  107. 

Justice,  Masonic,  and  rights  involved 
in,  253. 

KINDNESS  to  craft  enjoined  on 
Master,  239. 
King  Henry  VI.  and  the  Masons,  218. 

and  his  manuscript,  483. 
King  William  initiated  in  Masonic 
mysteries,  140. 

LABOR,  Master  sole  judge  of,  238. 
Lathomii,  i.  e.,  Masons,  189. 
Law,  personal  profession  of,  30. 

Roman,  borrowed  from  the  Jews, 371. 
Lay  brethren  in  monasteries,  63. 

builders  controlled  by  contract,  88. 
Legendary  history  of  Masonry,  157,  etc. 
Legends  of  ancient  building  corpora- 
tions remodelled,  366. 
of  Baldur  and  Hiram,  408,  etc. 
of  Baldur  and  Hiram  typify  the 

sun,  413. 
of  Masonry,  173,  179,  182. 
Letters,  secrets  of,  among  the  Ger- 
mans, 426. 
Liberal  arts  and  sciences,  44. 
Lights,  and  Jewish  Sohar,  459. 

of  lodge,  none  in  north,  why,  291. 
used  symbolically  by  Pagans,  359. 
window,  223. 
Linen,  white,  symbolized  by  Essenes, 
462. 

Lion,  Christ  as,  358. 

symbol  of,  27. 
Lodge  at  Orvieto  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, 90. 

convened  at  sunrise,  194. 


INDEX. 


505 


Lodge  entered  and  left  only  with  Mas- 
ter's consent,  250. 

how  constituted,  298. 

in  form  of  semi-circle  and  oblong 
square,  266.  • 

its  signification,  91,  note  (1). 

Master's  position  in,  194. 

mediaeval,  how  formed,  193,  196. 

morals,  219. 

open  air,  265. 

similarity  to  Gothic  courts,  263. 
to  be  as  pure  as  a  law  court,  236. 
why  on  high  hills  and  in  valleys,  264. 
windows  or  lights,  197. 

MAGIC  and  soothsaying  in  guilds, 
429. 

Magister  sculpture  and  lapidum,  90,  92. 
Magistri  Comacini,  or  masters  of  Como, 

35,  374,  404. 
Mark  carved  by  a  needy  brother,  216. 
Marks  an  honorable  distinction,  340 ; 
must  be  enrolled,  341. 
enrolling    of,  common    to  other 

guilds,  341. 
given  to  Fellow-craftsmen,  339. 
Masonic,  of  early  ages,  323. 
Masonic,  property  of  Blue  Lodge 

Masons,  341. 
mediaeval  Masonic,  how  composed, 
329,  etc. 

mediaeval  Masonic,  on  St.  Marc's, 

Venice,  330. 
of  fish,  324 ;  geometric  figures,  327. 
system  of,  common  to  the  East  and 

West,  334. 
system  of,  under  Gothic  code,  338. 
trowel,  mallet,  and  shoe,  325. 
uniformity  of,  in   European  and 

Oriental,  335,  etc. 
used  for  practical  purpose,  327. 
Mason,  early  use  of  name,  189,  435. 
Masonic  duties,  243,  etc. 

initiates  from  Byzantium,  376. 
statues,  329. 
Masonry,  both  operative  and  specula- 
tive, in  seventeenth  century,  137. 
43 


Masonry  brought  from  Egypt  by  Jews 
(legendary),  162. 

operative,  when  it  ceased  in  Ger- 
many, 150. 
Masons  and  stonecutters  under  Gio- 
vanni, 92. 

in  England  shall  obey  laws,  129. 

Master,  figures  of,  141. 

must  respect  the  Romish  church, 
243. 

Master  and  Apprentices,  46. 
of  lodge  keeps  the  plans,  234. 
of  the  work,  235  ;  names  of,  74. 
Mathematicians  honored  by  Roman 

emperors,  363. 
Milan  cathedral  built  by  German 

masters,  95. 
Modelled  planes  invented  by  William 

of  Sens,  78. 
Monasteries,  art  in,  47. 
Monastic  artists,  49,  50. 
Monks  architects  of  Italy,  85,  etc. 
erect  buildings,  50. 
learn  art  from  Byzantines,  44. 
Moon  in  monastic  and  legal  connec- 
tion, 269. 
Morals  of  mediaeval  lodges,  221. 
Mosaic  art,  349  ;  significance  of,  351. 
Muruo,  John,  French  Master  of  Ma- 
sons, 113,  etc. 
Mutual  aid  in  guilds,  392. 

NAME,  careful  study  of,  enjoined, 
476. 

eagerness  to  obtain  correct  pronun- 
ciation of,  450. 

engraven  on  rod,  459. 

house  to  be  built  for  the,  458. 

in  the  Targums,  451. 

Moses  and  the,  421 ;  and  Solomon, 
422. 

strange  perpetuation  of,  473. 

true  and  sacred,  potency  of,  421. 

"  wonderful "  and  "  sacred  "  attri- 
butes, 450. 
Namus  Grecus,  118,  163. 
Norm,  three  as  an  especial,  307. 


506 


INDEX. 


Norman  conquest  and  French  Masons, 
120. 

North  in  lodge  place  of  darkness,  why, 
291-4. 

Notre  Dame  de  Paris  built  by  Masons 

in  thirteenth  century,  102. 
Numbers  in  lodge  ritual,  307. 
3,  5,  and  7,  307,  308. 

OATH-BOUND  societies  forbidden 
by  Charlemagne,  402. 
Oath  in  face  of  the  sun,  east  or  south, 
315. 

of  secrecy,  193 ;  of  a  freeman,  314. 

on  holy-dome,  210,  404. 

on  holy-dome  and  square  and  com- 
pass, 213. 

required  at  end  of  apprenticeship, 
108. 

taken  before  Grand  Master,  209. 
under  light,  317  ;  and  invocation  of 
patron  saint,  400. 
Oblati  assist  Masons,  200. 
Old  books  of  Masonry,  147,  172. 
Opening  and  closing  lodge  by  colloquy, 
208. 

and  closing  lodge,  formal,  demanded, 
109. 

Operative  Masonry,  as  an  organized 

body,  ceases  in  1424,  127. 
Orientation  of  Gothic  courts,  297. 
of  lodges,  194,  296,  etc. 
of  Solomon's  Temple,  296. 
Orvieto  temple  and  master  builders, 
89. 

temple  and  lodge  of  Masons,  90. 

PAGAN  rites  among  Christian  Ger- 
mans, 380. 
Pallirer,  from  what  derived,  267. 
keeps  Jodge  rolls,  234. 
or  Warden,  duties  of,  223,  etc. 
or  Warden,  how  obligated,  225. 
Password  to  initiates,  213. 
Past-Masters,  mediaeval,  255. 
Patron,  of  guilds,  of  noble  birth,  67. 
saints,  dedication  of  guilds  to,  195. 


Patron  saints,  German,  173,  175. 
saints,  German,  recognized  in  Eng- 
land, 124  ;  in  Venice,  444. 
saints  of  French  Masons,  179. 
Pay  of  craftsmen,  232-4. 
Penalties,ancientand  Middle  Age,  318. 

for  temple  breaking.  319. 
Penalty  for  violating  landmarks,  261. 

for  violating  usages,  108-9, 110,  127. 
Pierre  de  Montereau,  Master  of  French 

Masons  1248,  102. 
Pillars  of  Solomon's  Temple,  29. 
preserve  Masonic  and  other  arts, 
159. 

Plastic  art  in  the  Middle  Ages,  21. 
Point  within  a  circle  identical  with 

letter  G,  468. 
within  a  circle,  meaning  of,  467,  474. 
Powers  of  a  Master,  252. 
Prayer  enjoined  on  guildic  brethren, 

196. 

Presents  to  contributors  to  architec- 
tural work,  230. 

Privileges,  limited,  of  English  Masons, 
125. 

Proclamation  in  lodge  thrice  repeated, 
270. 

Proficiency  suitable  for  advancement, 
207. 

Pythagoras  and  the  "  word,"  460. 

QUADKIVIUM,  42. 
Qualifications  for  advancement  in 
Masonic  guilds,  71,  205. 
for  membership  in  guilds,  206. 
to  become  a  Mason  in  France,  104. 

RECORDS  of  the  craft,  114-16. 
Regular  Masons  discountenance 
clandestine  craftsmen,  245. 
Right  hand  in  swearing,  313. 
Rites,  ancient  Teutonic,  maintained  by 
guilds,  etc.,  415. 
furore  for  Jewish,  372. 
of  initiation,  where  practised,  197. 
Runic  letters,  endowed  with  attributes 
of  the  "Name,"  427. 


INDEX. 


507 


Runic  letters  identical  with  Gnostic 
A  brae,  426. 
incantations  by,  and  Thor's  sign, 
429. 

magic  property  of,  426. 
used  for  sortilege,  427. 

S A  BIN  A,     Steinbach's  daughter, 
skilled  in  Masonic  art,  81. 
Saint  Blaise,  179,  etc. 
Saint    Eloi,   patron   of  goldsmiths' 

guild,  103. 
Saint  John,  mediaeval  Masonic  patron, 
195. 

Saint  John's  day,  274,  361. 
fires  on,  382,  391. 

Saint  Mark's,  Venice,  built  by  East- 
ern workmen,  83. 

Saints,  German  patron,  173,  444. 

Schemhamphorasch  and  the  Name, 
422. 

Secret  signs  and  passwords  forbidden 
in  England,  139. 
signs  and  symbols  in  secular  guilds, 
405. 

Secrets,  Masonic,  mediaeval,  217. 

Masonic,  not  to  be  divulged,  107. 
Servile  craftsmen,  60. 
Seven  a  Masonic  numeral,  308. 

liberal  arts,  by  whom  invented,  156. 
Shibboleth  and  Frcy's  symbol,  289. 
Shoe,  sign  of  subjection,  320. 

used  in  legal  proceedings,  320. 
Sick  brethren  to  be  cared  for,  250. 
Situation  or  orientation  of  lodges,  296. 
Social  conditions  and  changes  in  elev- 
enth century,  54. 
Societies,  oath-bound,  in  eighth  cen- 
tury, 401,  etc. 

secret,  forbidden  in  Rome,  32. 
Society  of  constructors  or  Freema- 
sons, 69,  etc. 
Solomon's  temple  and  Masonry,  162. 
Spain,  Masons  in,  97. 
Speculative  Masonry  in  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, 132-4. 
Square  as  mark,  328. 


Staff  carried  by  deacons,  and  why,  305. 
Stars  of  lodge  descended  from  the 

Norse,  294. 
Statuary  work  of  Masons,  176. 
Statue  of  King  Solomon,  332. 
Statute  of  Henry  VI.  against  Masons, 

126-7. 

Steps,  the  three,  from  Norse  temple 

worship,  306. 
the  three,  on  Master's  carpet,  whence 

derived,  305-6. 
Substitutes  for  the  Name  or  Word, 

424,  454,  456. 
Sunlight  in  Gothic  court  and  lodges, 

298. 

Sunset  and  sunrise  in  lodge  ritual,  269. 
Swearing  by  common  utensils,  316. 

by  working  tools,  316. 
Symbolism  adapted  from  Paganism, 

358. 

cultivated  by  builders,  etc.,  45. 
introduced  into  Christian  church, 
19,  27. 

Symbols,  Masonic,  217,  269,  etc. 

Pagan,  adopted  by  Christianity,  27, 
355,  433,  n.  5. 

TABLET  of  a  Master  at  Melrose, 
76. 

Tablets  for  enrolling  marks,  341. 
Tapers,  three  burning,  290,  470. 
Temple  built  by  the  name  or  word, 
422. 

of  Solomon,  marks  on,  335. 
Theoderich  the  Goth,  the  services  of, 
24. 

Thor's  hammer  mark,  326. 
Three,  a  necessary  norm  in  Gothic 
court  and  lodges,  307-8. 
cries  over  the  dead,  322. 
frequent  application  of,  308-12. 
how  made  up,  311. 
in  a  lodge,  of  deep  significance,  309, 
310. 

Toasts  at  initiation,  214. 
Tools  of  rebellious  craftsmen  to  be 
seized,  253. 


508 


INDEX. 


Tools,  working,  of  Essenes,  4G2. 
Traditions,  Masonic,  introduced  into 

Britain  by  Gallic  builders,  121. 
Travelling  builders,  38,  47. 

Fellow-craft,  215. 
Treasurer,  office  of,  ancient,  238. 
Triangle,  magic  power  in,  418,  428. 

with  enclosed  dot  and  Yod,  330,  472. 
Trivium,  42. 

Twelve  as  connected  with  Hiram  and 

Baldur,  410,  etc. 
Tyler,  how  derived  and  signification 

of,  188. 

USAGES  and  customs  of  Essenes, 
462. 

Usages  and  customs  to  be  preserved, 
104. 

still  in  Germany  symbolizing  Bal- 
dur's  death,  415,  etc. 

WAGES  of  builders,  how  raised, 
231. 

Wages  of  builders  paid  each  night  at 
sunset,  233,  note  (5). 
of  corn,  wine,  etc.,  in  eighth  century, 
405. 

of  craftsmen,  111,  130-1. 
of  Freemasons,  130-1. 
Warden  or  Pallirer  to  act  in  Master's 
absence,  223. 


Werkmeister,  i.  e.  Grand  Master,  248. 
White  gloves  in  initiation,  213. 

linen  among  Essenes,  462. 
William  of  Sens,  a  French  Mason, 
76-8. 

William  of  Wykeham  and  rebellious 

craftsmen,  125. 
Wisdom,  Divine,  churches  dedicated 

to,  344. 

Wisdom,  strength,  and  beauty,  columns 

of,  287,  469,  etc. 
Women  in  guilds,  396. 
Word,  eagerness  to  acquire  possession 

of,  449. 

Gematria,  essence  of  constructive 

power,  423. 
on  sacred  pillars,  463. 
sacred,  by  it  Solomon  builds  Temple, 

420. 

sacred,  Egyptian  origin  of,  421. 
sacred,  only  spoken  bv  High-Priest, 
454. 

sacred,  power  of,  420. 
sacred,  power  of  Christ  by  means  of 
421. 

sacred,  spoken  by  Moses  to  slay 
Egyptian,  463. 
Wren,  Sir  Christopher,  when  made  a 
Mason,  139. 

r^EBAOTH,  as  a  substitute,  424. 


